Gaza Strip: EU conference pledges €900m in donations

Published 13 July 2026 · europe

The conference in Brussels was attended by Palestinian representatives. The EU's top diplomat said the bloc's support depends on reforms in the Palestinian Authority. The

The conference in Brussels was attended by Palestinian representatives. The EU's top diplomat said the bloc's support depends on reforms in the Palestinian Authority. The Gaza Strip will receive some €900 million ($1 billion) in donations from Europe, after an EU-backed conference raised the funds for the reconstruction of the embattled enclave. With about a half of its two million residents living in tents due to Israel's war with Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by the US, the EU and other countries, the funding will first go to providing the Palestinian territory with basic water and sanitation facilities, as well as restoring the Gaza Strip's health and food systems hit hard by the war with Israel. The Team Gaza Initiative will coordinate the efforts to rebuild the enclave. The EU's foreign policy head Kaja Kallas said reforms in the Palestinian Authority are needed for the bloc to continue supporting it.

Almost all of the Gaza Strip's population has been displaced by the war Image: Bilal Osama/APA Images/ZUMA/picture alliance Palestinianrepresentatives, as well as representation of the Board of Peace, established by US President Donald Trump, were among the invitees to the conference. How much money is needed to rebuild Gaza? According to a UN report from May 2026, the recovery and construction works needed in the Gaza Strip are estimated at $71.4 billion (€62.6 billion) The report also says 371,888 homes have been directly affected by the war, which makes three quarters of the enclave's housing stock. 85% of the affected homes have been completely destroyed. The war broke out after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023 Image: Amir Cohen/REUTERS Some 1.9 million Palestinians — more than 90% of the Strip's population — were displaced by the war between Israel and Hamas, some of them multiple times.

The war broke after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023, that claimed the lives of some 1,200 Israelis, with 251 people being taken hostage. What's the situation like in Gaza now? More than 71,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, many of them women and children. Some 450 of them were killed between the ceasefire's announcement and mid-January 2026, the UN report said. Nearly 70% of the Gaza Strip is still in control of the Israeli army, with the rest still being managed by Hamas, which have so far refused to lay down their arms as agreed in the October 2025 ceasefire deal mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar. People in Gaza have been given the opportunity to watch the FIFA World Cup despite the destruction Image: Mohammed M Skaik/JNA Press/IMAGO The Board of Peace, a technocratic body led by Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov, was established to manage the Gaza Strip's civil matters.