Donors reluctant to rebuild Gaza without peace assurances

CAIRO, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- The U.N. Relief and Works Agency intends to seek $1.6 billion, to help rebuild Gaza, at a conference of potential donors, it said.

The unprecedented amount, for construction projects after the 50-day war with Israel over the summer, reflects "the massive scale of destruction and the profound level of need the beleaguered people of Gaza are experiencing today," said UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness.

The Palestinian government plans to request a total of $4 billion in pledges from donor countries and organizations at the conference in Cairo this weekend. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to attend. The United States pledged $118 million to Gaza in September.

Potential donors have been in this position before; similar outreaches for aid occurred in 2009 and 2012, and Gazan ambitions for funding may clash with less than anticipated pledge money in light of a lack of commitment for a lasting peace.

Western countries are reluctant to help rebuild Gaza without assurances of negotiations for peace and stability between Israel and its neighbors, including Gaza, for fear of having their reconstruction efforts simply bombed again. Among the infrastructure destroyed were schools, hospitals and electricity grids built with previously donated funding.

"No one can expect us to go back to our taxpayers for a third time to ask for contributions to reconstruction and then we simply go back to where we were before all this began. That is out of the question," said Johan Schaar of Sweden's Consulate General in Occupied Palestinian Territory.

UNRWA estimates 80,000 homes in Gaza were damaged or destroyed in the conflict, 110,000 people are homeless and 54,000 people still live in shelters.