The Peace Council, led by U.S. President Donald Trump, announced in New York on Wednesday a $2.45 billion recovery plan for the Gaza Strip to be implemented over six months, during a meeting attended by council members and relevant parties.
66 projects for economic recovery and services
The proposal includes 66 projects covering temporary housing and economic recovery efforts, as well as initiatives in infrastructure, education and healthcare, in support of Trump's 20-point ceasefire plan.
Nikolay Mladenov, the Peace Council's senior representative for Gaza, urged support for the plan and acknowledged that talks with Israel were not easy ahead of the elections amid politically sensitive conditions. He said progress was being made "given the complexities we are dealing with."
Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff attended the meeting, along with Jared Kushner. The plan was presented during the week of the United Nations General Assembly, as French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for action to end the conflict and criticized the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Reconstruction needs
The Peace Council acknowledged that major obstacles still had to be overcome, saying that "the needs are enormous." It estimated the cost of fully rebuilding Gaza's physical damage at around $35.2 billion over the medium term, plus a further $71.4 billion over the next 10 years.
United Nations figures show that by October 2025, Israeli airstrikes had damaged or destroyed 84 percent of Gaza's buildings, following the war that erupted after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and displaced most of the strip's population.
The Peace Council's tasks
Trump chairs the Peace Council, which was initially established to oversee the ceasefire in Gaza and the reconstruction of the strip before its objectives were expanded. Despite the ceasefire agreement, Israel says it must eliminate the threats posed by Hamas and continues to carry out airstrikes on the Palestinian territory.
