US President Donald Trump yesterday said there are no guarantees the Gaza ceasefire will hold, while his envoy said the measure is holding for now.
Trump and US special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff made the remarks to reporters at the White House.
With fighting in Gaza paused, Palestinians are appealing for billions of dollars in emergency aid – from heavy machinery to clear rubble to tents and caravans to house people made homeless by Israeli bombardment.
One official from the Palestinian Authority estimated immediate funding needs of $6.5 billion for temporary housing for Gaza’s population of more than two million, even before the huge task of long-term reconstruction begins.
Witkoff estimated last week that rebuilding could take 10-15 years. But before that, Gazans will have to live somewhere.
Hamas, which has moved quickly to reassert control of Gaza after a temporary ceasefire began last month, says Gaza has immediate needs for 200,000 tents and 60,000 caravans.
In addition, it says there is urgent need for heavy digging equipment to begin clearing millions of tonnes of rubble left by the war, both to clear ground for housing and to recover more than 10,000 bodies estimated to be buried there.
World Food Programme official Antoine Renard said Gaza’s food imports had surged since the ceasefire and were already at two or three times monthly levels before the truce began.
But he said there were still impediments to importing medical and shelter equipment which would be vital to sustain the population but which Israel considers to have potential “dual use” – civilian or military.
More than half a million people who fled northern Gaza have returned home, many with nothing more than what they could carry with them on foot. They were confronted by an unrecognisable wasteland of rubble where their houses once stood.
Countries from Egypt and Qatar to Jordan, Turkey and China have expressed readiness to help, but Palestinian officials blame Israel for delays. Egypt and Qatar both helped broker the ceasefire that has, for now, stopped the fighting.
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