Gaza: Where's the Reconstruction Money?

Matt Benyon Rees of Global Post offers a useful reminder today that very little of the $5.2 billion promised to rebuild Gaza after the December/January war has made it into the area. He could have gone farther, reflecting on Josh Mull's recent post in Enduring America: "Only a slice of the money is even allocated to the Gaza Strip, under the control of the democratically elected Hamas government, while the majority goes to the West Bank, held in the iron grip of Fatah’s Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority."

Still, Rees provides a direct answer for the non-reconstruction: "'Keeping the money out of the hands of Hamas is a challenge,' says one Israeli official."

Billions promised, but Gazans still waiting

RAMALLAH — Money, wrote the English philosopher Francis Bacon, is like manure: of very little use unless it is spread.

Since an international aid conference in March promised $5.2 billion to rebuild Gaza, the stink of un-spread money has been strong in the nostrils. That’s particularly unpleasant for the people of Gaza, who also have to deal with a largely destroyed sewage system, thus giving them a double-helping of manure.

International diplomats, Israeli officials and leaders of the Palestinian Authority haven’t been able to figure out how to rebuild Gaza while keeping the cash out of the hands of Hamas, which runs the narrow strip of land. Food aid can get in, but substantial reconstruction hasn’t begun.

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