#gaza-reconstruction

#gaza-reconstruction

But urgency should never become an excuse for illusion, spectacle, or political shortcuts. The contrast between rhetoric and reality could not be sharper. While United States President Donald Trump and a group of world leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland, to sign the charter of the so-called Board of Peace and unveil glossy reconstruction plans, the killing in Gaza continued. Since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10, no fewer than 480 Palestinians have been killed.

It envisages a unified Palestinian-run Gaza, which represents a rebuff to the aims of Israeli extremists, including some in the governing coalition, who have sought the deportation of Gaza's population and the building of Israeli settlements in its place. The plan's success will depend largely on whether Trump and his board of peace has the determination to implement the plan, overcoming Israeli objections and obstruction and whether a mechanism can be created inside Gaza to oversee the disarming of Hamas.

US and Palestinian officials also used the ceremony to lay out a blueprint for the next steps in implementing a ceasefire in Gaza, and putting the territory under the day-to-day control of a Palestinian-run technocratic administration, which has been assembled in Cairo. The president's son-in-law Jared Kushner outlined a plan for the next 100 days, including a significant increase in aid deliveries, the rehabilitation of essential infrastructure, such as water, electricity and sewage systems, and the reconstruction of hospitals and bakeries.

Keir Starmer has been offered a place on the Gaza peace board set up by Donald Trump as part of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. The prime minister was asked to sit on the board by a senior member of the Trump administration. The Guardian has been told that Starmer is expected to accept but has not yet received a formal invitation, while conversations about the exact makeup of the board are continuing.

as quickly as we can

"People are lining up and treating this the way they treated reconstruction in Iraq," says Aram Roston, whose latest investigation for The Guardian US looks at how the company behind the notorious Florida immigration detention jail nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz" has been involved in rebuilding plans spearheaded by Trump's so-called Board of Peace.

Trump administration insiders and well-connected Republican businesses have been jostling to dominate pending humanitarian aid and reconstruction logistics in the shattered Gaza Strip, according to sources and documents reviewed by the Guardian. With three-quarters of Gaza's structures damaged or destroyed by two years of Israeli strikes, the rebuilding effort to come estimated at $70bn by the United Nations could be a rich prize for companies that specialize in construction, demolition, transportation and logistics.

There is no talk of the Palestinian right to search for and honour their own dead, to mourn publicly the loss. The idea of reconstruction is dangled before the residents of Gaza. Those who call for it from abroad seem to envision just clearing rubble, pouring concrete, and rehabilitating infrastructure. There is no talk of rebuilding people restoring their institutions, dignity, and sense of belonging.

The conference was announced by Downing Street ahead of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's arrival in Egypt on Monday for a peace plan signing co-chaired by US President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. While Starmer has not attended the conference, convened at the UK Foreign Office's Wilton Park conference center, it has been led by the UK's Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer,

As the first phase of a ceasefire in Gaza comes into effect, researchers who study post-war reconstruction say that rebuilding efforts must not shut out Palestinian expertise. Academics at scientific institutions "possess unparalleled local knowledge and a deep understanding of their land", says Amani Al-Mqadma, head of international relations for the Islamic University of Gaza, and a co-author of a report assessing the needs of higher education in the territory.

We call on the international community, the United Nations and all international legal organisations and the International Court of Justice to punish the leaders of the [Israeli] occupation and to not grant them any legal or political immunity, al-Thawabta said in a statement. We call for forming an international, independent commission to investigate the war crimes and genocide and ensure that the return and compensation of all displaced people.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

It is almost certain that the UK, along with France, Canada, Belgium and Malta, will recognise the state of Palestine at a UN conference on 22 September to be held on the sidelines of the general assembly, in the week when world leaders deliver major speeches. Britain had suggested it might not recognise Palestine if Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire, but the Israeli government has adamantly rejected a ceasefire and announced an intention to capture Gaza City.

The plan itself was first outlined to an incredulous world by Trump in February. The details have now emerged. It involves the expulsion the de facto imprisonment of 2 million Palestinians, while the US administers the exclave for 10 years. Each Palestinian would be paid $5,000 each plus four years' rent somewhere else and one year's supply of food. Gaza is then rebuilt as a skyscraper wonderland of artificial intelligence investment and tourism. It would be a second Dubai yielding up to $400bn for developers.