EU: Rebuilding Gaza requires unity government, lifting blockade

The reconstruction of the Gaza Strip needs several steps, including a unified Palestinian government and the lifting of the 15-year-old Israeli blockade, an EU representative said yesterday.

“These steps are not European Union conditions to the reconstruction [of Gaza], but a logical path to start this process,” Anadolu reported EU representative in Palestine Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff saying at a news conference in Gaza.

Burgsdorff stressed the importance of conducting “democratic elections in Palestine.”

He hailed Egyptian efforts to enable Gaza residents to live in stability and peace, as Cairo has led efforts to solidify a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza.

READ: The human and material cost of Israel’s assault on Gaza

Burgsdorff reiterated that the EU previously announced an initial grant of €34 million ($40 million) to support Gaza.

An Egyptian-brokered truce that took effect on 21 May ended Israel’s 11-day bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli attacks in Gaza and the West Bank killed at least 289 people, including more than 65 children and 40 women, and left a trail of destruction.

Health centres and media offices, as well as schools and mosques, were among structures that were targeted. Wheat farms were scorched.

No human rights in Gaza – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]