Israel Conflict: Who will pay to rebuild Gaza?
There have also been calls for Israel to pay for the damage it has done during its current campaign in Gaza, with some arguing that because it is considered by the UN, the EU and other international organizations to be an occupying power there, it should shoulder rebuilding responsibilities.
• CATHRIN SCHAER
ISRAEL: Even as the fighting, dying and destruction continue, the arguments about money have started. The human toll of the conflict in Gaza is incalculable. But the costs of rebuilding what has been destroyed through the Israeli bombardment of Gaza are not. Early estimates suggest they may be as high as $50 billion (46.4 billion euros). This week, Israeli media reported that the country’s leader Benjamin Netanyahu had told his Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the Saudis and the UAE would be willing to pay the bill for Gaza’s reconstruction. This is despite the fact that Israel has not yet laid out a plan for who would govern Gaza if it succeeded in its goal of destroying Hamas.
It has also been suggested that Europeans will pay: The EU, and Germany in particular, have been major, long-term donors for humanitarian aid into the occupied Palestinian territories. The US is another of the biggest donors and likely to be called upon to fund reconstruction.
But in both the US and Europe, insiders report that, behind the scenes, decision-makers are already asking why they should once more pay millions in taxpayer money to rebuild infrastructure likely to be bombed again in the near future.
“I have heard senior EU officials say unequivocally that Europe will not pay for the reconstruction of Gaza. (The sums of money required by Ukraine are already mind-boggling),” Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs commentator at the UK’s Financial Times, wrote this week. “The US Congress [also] seems to be turning against all forms of foreign assistance.”
There have also been calls for Israel to pay for the damage it has done during its current campaign in Gaza, with some arguing that because it is considered by the UN, the EU and other international organizations to be an occupying power there, it should shoulder rebuilding responsibilities. In 2010, Israel did agree to compensate the main United Nations’ agency working in Gaza — the UN Relief Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, commonly known as UNRWA — $10.5 million for buildings destroyed during its far smaller 2009 operation in the enclave.
This was controversial both with some Israelis, who asked whether the payment meant they were admitting guilt, and human rights organizations, who said more should have been paid to victims. However, that appears to be the rare instance when Israel has agreed to compensation.
Since the militant Hamas group attacked Israel on October 7, Israel has been bombing the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million Palestinians. Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by Germany, the European Union, the US and others. Israel has also launched a ground offensive into the Gaza Strip and is blocking the delivery of food, water, power and most aid into the enclave. Fighting is ongoing. As a result, over half of all of Gaza’s housing has been destroyed — up to 50,000 housing units, with over 200,000 more damaged. Additionally, dozens of hospitals, and hundreds of schools and government buildings have been destroyed, as have agricultural facilities. Many were built with funding from international donors. During Israel’s last offensive in Gaza in 2021, around 1,000 housing and commercial units were destroyed and a further 16,257 damaged, along with 60 schools. The cost of reconstruction then was estimated at around $8 billion (7.4 billion euros).