Leaders of donor nations gathered in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday to discuss how much to donate and how they would actually channel the funds to rebuild infrastructure in Gaza.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, hosting the event, said in his opening address that he looked forward to a year that would be "the year of peaceful settlement between Israelis and Palestinians."
His intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, expressed similar sentiments -- albeit about the rival Fatah and Hamas factions -- in his opening speech at a reconciliation conference last week designed to bring together the rival groups to form a reunified Palestinian Authority government.
The failed effort has left the Hamas terrorist organization still in control of Gaza while Fatah runs the PA government from Ramallah. PA Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas is attending Monday's summit, along with leaders of more than 70 nations and some 15 international aid organizations. Hamas was not invited.
PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is expected to receive close to, if not all of the hoped-for $2.8 billion he has said is needed for reconstruction efforts in Gaza and to support the PA's 2009 budget.
The United States, the European Union, Saudi Arabia and other heavy hitters are expected to carry most of the tab; the U.S. alone has already pledged $300 million for reconstruction in the region.
Fayyad, who has previously worked for the World Bank, last week attempted to reassure donors that they could funnel funds directly through the Ramallah-based government despite reports that funds intended for civil service workers' salaries have gone astray and ended up in Hamas terrorists' hands. PA officials said Monday that direct donations to their government, as well as aid contributions via non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the United Nations and through the private sector would also be accepted.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki told reporters on Sunday that a list of funding options would be presented at the conference. Among them, he said, were the existing mechanisms such as the Islamic Fund, the World Bank and a funding stream offered by the European Union.
However, Egyptian officials also say any money raised by the conference will still have to make it past two major obstacles in order to be effective: the lack of "normal" functioning of the Gaza crossings and the absence of a reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, needed in order to create a unity government.
The question remains how the money will be channeled in to Gaza, and how donors can ensure that it will be spent on the projects it was intended for.
Efforts by PA officials and various diplomats to paint Israel as the villain for maintaining tight control over the Gaza crossings have raised the question of how construction materials will be purchased and delivered. "The Israeli siege and closure on Gaza will prevent any reconstruction unless it is removed," said PA legislator Mustafa Barghouti.
For its part, Israel has questioned what controls will be exercised to ensure that the materials will not be redirected by terrorists for use in building more bunkers and weapons instead, as has happened previously.
Hamas and allied terrorists have yet to stop firing rocket attacks at Israeli civilians in the western Negev. More than 100 rockets and mortars have exploded in southern Israel since the end of Operation Cast Lead was declared by the government on January 18. "This is why there are so many concerns about which materials go into Gaza," pointed out Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.
In addition, the Jewish State has held on to the control of the Gaza crossings as the last bargaining chip in the ongoing struggle to free kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit – who, after several military operations and a previous "ceasefire" still remains captive since June 25, 2006.