Trump's Board of Peace unveils $2.45bn Gaza reconstruction plan

The US-backed Board of Peace has unveiled a six-month, $2.45bn blueprint to begin rebuilding the Gaza Strip at Wednesday’s UNGA meeting.

The 66-project plan covers education, economic development, hospital reconstruction and a police force, under the Security Council-mandated National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. The board put full repair at about $35bn, plus $71.4bn over the following decade.

US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner attended. “All of the hostages are home,” Witkoff said. “There is a ceasefire, imperfect as it may be, but it still exists.”

The board’s high representative, Nikolay Mladenov, said the plan depended on Hamas disarming: “I want to be very clear that we are not bound by a calendar.” He added pre-election talks with Israel were “not easy”: “Everything is a little bit more emotional, a little bit more politically sensitive.”

Israeli strikes killed seven Palestinians across Gaza, Al Jazeera reported; Palestinian health officials told USA Today four died in earlier airstrikes. Medics named two drone-strike victims — Osama Abu Khater and Mohammad Abu Elwan — in al-Mawasi, near Khan Younis. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed the al-Mawasi strike had killed a senior Hamas finance official. Defence Minister Israel Katz said a strike had targeted such an official, vowing Israel “will not stop until there is no Hamas in Gaza.”

The UK, France and Canada criticised Israel over West Bank settlements blocking a two-state solution; UN chief Antonio Guterres denounced its Gaza campaign, and Turkey’s Erdogan demanded reconstruction start “as soon as possible.”