SHARM EL SHEIKH: The Gaza reconstruction conference that was held in Sharm El-Sheikh Monday, though trumpeted as a success, was overcast by doubts regarding the implementation of the $4.5 billion in pledges. But past the $4.5 billion (which could possibly rise to $5.2 billion) the donors have raised questions over the method of implementing the pledges and the current political circumstances in both Palestine and Israel. The political schism between Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas continues although Egypt is trying to negotiate talks that would lead to the formation of a unity government. However if this unity government - which will incorporate Hamas - is to be formed, how will the international community, especially the United States and Europe, view it given that it will include a group they regard as a terrorist organization? Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said, "We expect the international community to deal with a Palestinian unity government as a government mandated by the Palestinian president through a reconciliation process involving all the factions. "The coming government is a result of negotiations and the international community should not interfere in influencing the Palestinians in reaching this accord. "There are agreed upon international mechanisms to give the funds to the Palestinian Authority and if there is to be a unity government, it is also the government of the Palestinian Authority. Israeli politics is also in flux, with Prime Minister designate Binyamin Netanyahu still unable to form a coalition government. And questions still persist over whether the government he does manage to form will be amenable to resuming the peace process. Tied to this are a number of practical considerations: will Israel open the crossings to allow for the reconstruction of Gaza? Will Israel contemplate another large-scale offensive on Gaza? "Reconstruction will not happen without opening the crossings and ending the siege, Fayyad said. Current Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert triggered Egypt's consternation when he made an 11th hour stipulation that for the crossings to be opened, captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit must be released. Aboul Gheit said, "There is a need to open the crossings, and achieve a durable ceasefire. To tie the truce and reconstruction to the fate of one soldier so insistently is something I think the international community finds strange. The Egyptian foreign minister, however, made no mention of the Rafah border crossing, the only direct crossing between Gaza and Egypt, the closure of which led to much criticism of Egypt during the Israeli offensive on Gaza. The conference chair conclusions stated that the participants "called for the immediate, unconditional and sustained re-opening of Israel's crossings with the Gaza strip. The participants also stressed the "crucial need to break the cycle of construction and destruction in Gaza, and demanded that Israel fully respects its obligations under international law and international humanitarian law and desist from targeting or damaging the civilian and economic infrastructure of Gaza. UN Under-Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes had said after visiting Gaza in the wake of the Israeli offensive that the strip's infrastructure had been targeted and the damage wrought was severe. This is a cause for concern for the donors. Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store, who co-chaired the conference, said, "We are confronted with a very strange dilemma, where once again we construct something we built a few years ago. Many donors, despite their pledges today, will wish to see political progress along the negotiation path before they commit for infrastructure reconstruction. "Donors and the international community have to expect Israel first of all to take responsibility for the destruction [in Gaza], and also that the parties reach conclusions which will give us a secure space to do that reconstruction, he added. The funds will be channeled through a newly formed Single Treasury Account as well as existing mechanisms such as the EU's Palestinian fund PEGASE, the World Bank's Palestinian Reform and Development Plan Trust Fund, the Islamic Development Fund and the UN's Consolidated Appeal Process.
