Int´l donors pledge $4.5 bln for Gaza reconstruction

HAMAS GETS NOTHING

The PNA in the West Bank and the Hamas-run government in Gaza have each insisted on leading the rebuilding effort, but Western countries, which consider Hamas as a terror group, have said they can only work with Abbas.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the international donors' conference to plan the reconstruction of the Palestinian Gaza Strip, in Sharm El-Sheikh of Egypt, March 2, 2009. (Xinhua/MENA)

Hillary Clinton has pledged at the conference that the United States will donate 900 million dollars for the Palestinians to shore up the PNA and help rebuild Gaza, but stressed that no funds will go to Hamas.

Among the total U.S. funding, only a third, or 300 million dollars, is earmarked for the reconstruction of Gaza, which will be channelled via the United Nations and other organizations, U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said earlier, while stressing that "Hamas is not getting any of this money."

Some 200 million dollars will be provided to help cover the PNA budget shortfalls and another 400 million dollars is offered to assist Palestinian economic and institutional reforms, according to the spokesman.

Abbas also said last Saturday that the international aid has to go through the PNA in coordination with international organizations.

"We expect quick international aid from all parties to completely rebuild the Gaza Strip," Abbas told reporters following a meeting with Javier Solana, adding he also expects that the PNA as in the past will be the only mechanism in accepting aid for Gaza.