Gaza reconstruction set to cost $90bn, says Egypt’s president
Cairo, Egypt - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-sisi said on Saturday that the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, adjacent to the border with his country, will require Us$90bn.
In a speech at the Cairo Convention Center, Sisi said he ‘requested an estimate (from Egyptian state institutions) for the cost of rebuilding the Gaza Strip as a result of the Israeli bombing it witnessed’, stressing that it ‘ needs Us$90bn,” according to the Cairo News Channel.
He pointed out that ‘ what happened in Gaza is a challenge to Egypt and the entire region’.
“The Rafah crossing is open 24/7, and we are keen to bring aid into the Gaza Strip,” he added. He also noted that Egypt ‘airdrops aid into the Gaza Strip because of the difficulties facing the process of bringing it in by land’.
Egypt and the United Arab Emirates carried out a fifth joint airdrop humanitarian aid mission on Friday for Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip, according to the Emirati news agency WAM.
For more than a week, Arab countries, namely Egypt, the Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain have continued to carry out joint operations to drop food aid in Gaza, in addition to similar operations by the US.
Sweden lifts freeze on aid
Sweden announced on Saturday that it is lifting a freeze on aid for the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), after the UN warned the Security Council last week of ‘imminent famine’ in the Gaza Strip.
The Nordic country pledged to give the initial Us$20mn after receiving guarantees from the agency of extra checks on its expenditure and personnel.
“The government has allocated 400mn kronor (around Us$38.7mn) to UNRWA for the year 2024. Today’s decision concerns a first payment of 200mn kronor (Us$19.4mn),” the Swedish government said in a statement.
The agency had promised to ‘allow controls, independent audits, to strengthen internal supervision and extra controls of personnel’, it said.
Following the Israeli accusation that some of its members were involved in the October 7 attacks, Sweden, and many other countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia, have halted payments to UNRWA in late January, pending an investigation.
The Swedish decision came after the European Commission earlier this month said it would release 50mn (Us$54.7mn) in UNRWA funding.
Canada also announced on Friday that it is resuming aid, citing the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and after facing fierce criticism at home for cutting assistance during Israel’s war in Gaza.
Earlier this week, the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide urged the world to stand by the agency as ‘now is exactly the wrong time to halt funding for UNRWA’.
For more than a week, Arab countries, namely Egypt, the Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain have continued to carry out joint operations to drop food aid in Gaza