Palestinians to seek $2.8 billion in aid to rebuild Gaza

The Palestinians hope to raise $2.8 billion at an international conference next month on repairing damage to the Gaza Strip from Israel's offensive, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Wednesday.

Previous rough estimates put the cost of recovery for Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas Islamists, at some $2 billion, but Fayyad said tabulations for the higher figure would be presented at a March 2 meeting at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

"We have prepared a conclusive document which will include all that is needed in order to reconstruct and revitalize the Palestinian economy in the Gaza Strip," he told reporters.

"This document will be the basis for donors in order to pledge their monetary compensation and commitments."

But presenting a target figure to donors will be only the first step in a lengthy process before any new buildings and roads start to go up in the blockaded coastal enclave.

There is likely to be a political tug-of-war over who distributes funds. Israel, which says it wants to prevent Hamas from rearming, maintains a direct veto at Gaza's border crossing points on what may and may not be imported.

Gazans favor buildings of reinforced concrete. Cement and steel rods are on Israel's list of banned or restricted goods.

The United States said on Tuesday it would offer more than $900 million to help rebuild Gaza and bolster the Western-backed Palestinian Authority of Fayyad and President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah faction was driven out of Gaza by Hamas in 2007.

The United States and other major Western powers shun Hamas, which is formally committed to the destruction of Israel.

Washington wants the Palestinian Authority to play a central role in the reconstruction effort in Gaza, and is also putting pressure on other donors to bolster Abbas, who is vying with Hamas for popularity as he seeks a peace accord with Israel.

Israel went to war in Gaza on December 27 with the declared aim of stemming cross-border rocket attacks by Hamas and other armed factions. Some 1,300 Palestinians, many of them civilians, and 13 Israelis were killed in the three weeks of fighting.

State Department: Humanitarian aid is apolitical issue

The State Department said on Wednesday that while it has generally tried to avoid criticizing Israel over its treatment of the humanitarian aid issue in Gaza, it believes the current crisis in the embattled territory requires the imminent delivery of as many basic supplies as possible.

When asked whether the U.S. believed that Israel was holding up humanitarian as a tool to secure the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been in Palestinian captivity for two years, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said: "Aid should never be used as a political weapon."

"We've had discussions with Israel and other countries. We want to see humanitarian supplies that people need getting to Gaza," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.

"What kind of products shall be included there, this is left to the humanitarian organizations dealing with in on the ground. There are discussions going on between wide variety of parties, so maybe we can't see the immediate results. And we'll try to push to get into Gaza as many supplies as possible."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has relayed messages to Israel in the past week expressing anger at obstacles Israel is placing to the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. A leading political source in Jerusalem noted that senior Clinton aides have made it clear that the matter will be central to Clinton's planned visit to Israel next Tuesday.

Ahead of Clinton's visit, special U.S. envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell is expected to issue a sharply worded protest on the same matter when he arrives here Thursday.

"Israel is not making enough effort to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza," senior U.S. officials told Israeli counterparts last week, and reiterated Washington's view by saying that "the U.S. expects Israel to meet its commitments on this matter."

Two weeks ago, four senior European Union officials sent a letter to the prime minister, foreign minister, defense minister and Yitzhak Herzog, the minister charged with humanitarian aid transfers to the Gaza Strip, protesting delays in the flow of aid through the crossings into Gaza. The officials also demanded that Israel formulates a clear policy on this issue.