Israel agrees to US request to pay for clearing Gaza destruction, says Yedioth Ahronoth

Israel has agreed to a formal request from the United States to take responsibility for the costs of clearing the widespread destruction in the Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth on Thursday evening.

The damage resulted from military operations, air strikes and the levelling of buildings with Israeli military bulldozers over the past two years of fighting.

A senior political official told the newspaper that Israel accepted the US demand.

Initial estimates suggest that the direct costs that Israel will bear could reach hundreds of millions of shekels, while the total project to clear the destruction and begin reconstruction is expected to cost billions of shekels.

Reports say that clearing the rubble is an essential condition before reconstruction work in the Gaza Strip can start, which is expected to begin in the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, whose first phase came into effect on 10 October 2025.

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