A European conference raises 900 million euros to rebuild Gaza

A conference supported by the European Union has raised some 900 million euros for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, where half of the two million inhabitants live in tents.

The funds raised will be primarily used to restore access to clean water and sanitation, as well as to rebuild the health and food systems devastated by the conflict. The "Team Gaza Initiative" will coordinate the reconstruction efforts.

The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has made continued EU support conditional on reforms within the Palestinian Authority. Palestinian representatives and members of the Board of Peace, a technocratic body created by the US president, are also involved. Donald Trump and led by Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov, were among the participants at the conference.

The scale of the needs remains colossal. A UN report published in May 2026 estimates the total cost of reconstruction at $71,4 billion (approximately €62,6 billion). The same report identifies 371,888 homes directly affected by the war, representing three-quarters of the country's housing stock, 85% of which was completely destroyed.

Since the start of the conflict, triggered by Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023, which killed some 1,200 Israelis and led to the taking of 251 hostages, more than 71,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip, a large proportion of them women and children. Some 1,9 million Palestinians, more than 90% of the territory's population, have been displaced, sometimes repeatedly.

On the military front, the Israeli army still controls nearly 70% of the Gaza Strip. Hamas, which governs the rest of the territory, continues to refuse to lay down its arms as stipulated in the October 2025 ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar. Some 450 people were killed between the announcement of this ceasefire and mid-January 2026, according to the UN report.

In September 2025, the UN Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel was committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza, a finding shared by several human rights organizations. The International Court of Justice has been examining a complaint filed by South Africa since 2023. Israel strongly denies this accusation.