Gulf Arab states proposed on Sunday a joint plan for Arab aid to rebuild the Gaza Strip.The extent of the funding has not been revealed but a Gulf Arab official said $1.25 billion has been pledged by Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The plan is to put aid from Arab donors under the joint management of a committee made up of contributors and the Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank, Gulf Arab ministers said in a statement after a meeting in the Saudi capital Riyadh. "The goal is for this program to be implemented fast and minutely planned and also for it to respond to the needs of our Palestinian brethren in Gaza as soon as possible," Oman's minister in charge of foreign affairs, Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, told reporters.
Israel's three-week offensive against Gaza caused an estimate $16 billion worth of damage and created new divisions in Arab ranks, pitting Saudi Arabia, Egypt and their allies against Qatar, Iran, Syria and their allies.