Kushner’s participation is a win for the European Commission, which is seeking to coordinate support among the U.S.-backed Board of Peace, the Palestinian Authority, European governments and established international aid bodies.
“We must act now, so we are pushing ahead, uniting behind the Team Gaza initiative for early recovery,” said EU Mediterranean Commissioner Dubravka Šuica in her opening remarks of the donor conference. “The people of Gaza cannot afford for us to wait.”
Šuica said the money would focus on “restoring basic social and economic services, rehabilitating critical infrastructure, and strengthening governance in Gaza.”
Among the cash pledges announced Monday, the Commission and the European Investment Bank proposed contributing €257 million to the package, with Spain, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, Belgium and the World Bank also participating. Šuica said the EU expected countries including Australia, Canada and Ireland to also join “in the coming months.”
The meeting also highlighted the dire finances of the Palestinian Authority (PA), with Šuica calling for Israel to release withheld Palestinian clearance revenues needed to pay salaries and maintain public services.
The conference comes days after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced the first Palestinian legislative election since 2006.
This story has been updated.
