Palestinian PM pitches $65 billion five-year plan to rebuild Gaza

Palestinian PM pitches $65 billion five-year plan to rebuild Gaza
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa attends a meeting on the Gaza recovery and reconstruction plan in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. (Reuters)
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Updated 17 October 2025
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Palestinian PM pitches $65 billion five-year plan to rebuild Gaza

Palestinian PM pitches $65 billion five-year plan to rebuild Gaza
  • Mohammed Mustafa addresses UN heads of agency, and diplomatic heads of mission from his office in Ramallah

RAMALLAH: The Palestinian Authority’s prime minister met on Thursday with UN and diplomatic officials to present a plan for Gaza’s reconstruction, despite uncertainties over his government’s role in the war-shattered territory’s future.

“I would like to believe that 12 months from now, the Palestinian Authority will be fully operational in Gaza,” Mohammed Mustafa said.

Mustafa said the Palestinian Authority had crafted a five-year plan for Gaza that would unfold over three phases and require $65 billion across 18 sectors, including housing, education, governance, and more.

The authority has not had a role in Gaza’s governance since Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007, though it still provides some services in the territory.

The Gaza peace plan set out by US President Donald Trump does not rule out a Palestinian state. Also, it suggests allowing a role for the Palestinian Authority once it has completed a set of reforms.

The plan builds on what was agreed at a summit of Arab countries in Cairo in March 2025, and Mustafa said that “police training programs initiated with Egypt and Jordan are already underway.”

“Our vision is clear,” Mustafa told an assembly of Palestinian ministers, UN heads of agency, and diplomatic heads of mission from his office in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

“Gaza shall be rebuilt as an open, connected and thriving part of the state of Palestine,” Mustafa said.

He also said that technical discussions were ongoing with the EU over “secure crossing operations, customs systems, and integrated policing units.”

The EU is one of the largest donors to the PA.

Above all, the post-war reconstruction plan aims to make way for a single Palestinian government.

The process will “reinforce the political and territorial unity between Gaza and the West Bank, and contribute to restoring a credible governance framework for the state of Palestine,” said Mustafa.

His remarks came as International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva urged all parties to continue moving toward sustained peace following a ceasefire in Gaza, saying it would benefit the entire region. 

Georgieva, speaking during the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington, said on Thursday she was relieved when the recent ceasefire was reached for the sake of all the people affected by the two-year war in the Palestinian enclave.

She said lowered tensions would be good news for the economies of Egypt and Jordan, where the IMF has programs, and Lebanon and Syria, which have asked for help and support from the global lender. 

“It is important because everybody concerned encourages this direction of sustaining a lasting peace, and yes, it would benefit the region,” she said. 

“There will be a peace dividend for everybody.” 


UN genocide adviser warns ‘threshold about to be crossed’ in Sudan’s El-Fasher atrocities

UN genocide adviser warns ‘threshold about to be crossed’ in Sudan’s El-Fasher atrocities
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UN genocide adviser warns ‘threshold about to be crossed’ in Sudan’s El-Fasher atrocities

UN genocide adviser warns ‘threshold about to be crossed’ in Sudan’s El-Fasher atrocities
  • ‘Direct attacks on civilians’ highlight need for urgent action, Chaloka Beyani says
  • UN warns of worsening conditions in North Darfur, with hundreds of thousands facing acute shortages of food, water, medical care

NEW YORK: The UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide on Friday said that Sudan may be nearing a tipping point for atrocities amid growing reports of widespread killings and attacks on civilians in El-Fasher

Warning that “a threshold is about to be crossed,” Chaloka Beyani said that “once our office sounds the alarm, (it) rings over and beyond ordinary violations of human rights or of international humanitarian law.”

He said the scale of atrocities shows “there has to be early action taken.”

Beyani said there had been “massive violations of international human rights law” and “direct attacks on civilians” by warring parties in Darfur.

Graphic reports and videos that surfaced late last month appeared to show atrocities carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces after they seized control of El-Fasher from government troops, ending a siege that had lasted more than 500 days.

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher told the Security Council recently that “the horror is continuing” in Darfur, warning that civilians remain trapped amid widespread violence.

Beyani’s office said several risk indicators for atrocities were now present in Sudan, though only an international court could determine whether genocide had occurred.

The International Criminal Court also expressed “profound alarm” earlier this week, saying it was gathering evidence of mass killings, rapes, and other atrocities allegedly committed in El-Fasher.

Meanwhile, reports indicate that the RSF has agreed to a “humanitarian ceasefire” proposed by the US, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

The UN has warned of deteriorating conditions in North Darfur, where hundreds of thousands displaced from El-Fasher face acute shortages of food, water, and medical care. Aid agencies are setting up new camps in Tawila and other nearby areas, but more than 650,000 people remain in desperate need of assistance.