UK PM pledges $26.7m to help rebuild Gaza

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will say his government is ready to play a “leading role” in Gaza’s reconstruction at a summit in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday, his office said in a statement Sunday.

Starmer is set to announce £20 million ($26.7 million) in humanitarian funding — part of a broader aid commitment for Gaza — to help repair water, sanitation and hygiene services decimated by two years of war.

He is headed to Egypt for the Gaza peace summit chaired by US President Donald Trump and Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, after a ceasefire was agreed between Israel and Hamas on Friday.

“Today is the first, crucial phase of ending this war and now we must deliver the second phase, in full,” Starmer was expected to say at the summit, according to the Downing Street press release.

The UK government also announced its decision to host a three-day conference on Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction, which would discuss plans for postwar Gaza and the Palestinian Authority’s transformation.

“The conference will be attended by a range of international partners, including Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, as well as private sector and international development finance and financiers,” according to the press release.

No date has yet been set for the conference.

“Gaza has been completely devastated. The ceasefire gives us the opportunity not just to urgently scale up humanitarian efforts but also to look to the future of Gaza’s recovery,” foreign minister Yvette Cooper said in a statement.

“The UK will also play a crucial part in that process, convening different parties as we are doing today with Egypt and bringing in expertise, experience and investment from the City of London to support reconstruction.”

AFP