Despair in Gaza as Board of Peace paints a rosy picture

While the Peace Committee’s first meeting in Washington discussed billions of dollars promised to rebuild the Gaza Strip, there was little sign of optimism on the ground.

Videos released at the meeting showed the future of sparkling high-rise buildings and new football fields.

Palestinians stuck in miserable displacement camps or in the rubble of their homes for months, even years, have little hope for change.

“We have been hearing conferences and meetings since the beginning of the war. They say there is a solution and peace, but they are all jokes. They are all liars,” said Faraj Abu Anze, one of tens of thousands of Palestinians living in a large tent camp on the Mediterranean coast.

“We can’t see anything about it on the ground. There is no hope. Education and health services are over. There is no life.”

US President Donald Trump announced that member countries of his ambitious executive board have pledged US$7 billion ($A9.9 billion) for reconstruction and will send thousands of troops to take part in the International Stabilization Force.

However, no timeline has been given and the rebuilding process has not yet begun.

Israel says Gaza will not be rebuilt until Hamas lays down its weapons; This is one aspect of October’s ceasefire agreement that has emerged as a major sticking point.

The United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank estimated the cost of reconstruction at US$70 billion ($A99 billion); That’s up to 10 times the amount pledged on Thursday.

Even clearing huge piles of rubble filled with unexploded ordnance can take several years.

More than 72,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

Statistics from this agency, which is part of the Hamas-led government, are generally considered reliable by the United Nations and independent experts.

In the first attack, Palestinian militants killed approximately 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took 251 people hostage.

The ceasefire agreement ended major military operations and led to the release of all remaining captives, but left important questions about the future of Gaza unanswered.

“There are meetings every day, but we see nothing,” said Ahmed Abu Salme, who was displaced twice during the war.

“There are tents everywhere and people are getting angry. We are tired.”

“I hope there will be real peace and we can return to our homes,” he added.

The United States hopes to begin reconstruction in Rafah, on Gaza’s border with Egypt.

The city was largely destroyed and depopulated during the war and is now located in the half of Gaza completely under Israeli control.

Ruwayda Dheir, who is among the tens of thousands of people displaced from Rafah, has little hope that she or other residents will see the promised money.

“The most important thing is that they put the money where it belongs and give it to the people,” he said.

“They’ll say they’re spending it on infrastructure, but we won’t see it.”