(Hina) An international donor conference on Gaza pledged millions of dollars for the reconstruction of that area, but asked of the Israelis and Palestinians to seriously commit to the peace talks so that reconstruction efforts would not be in vain.
Croatia's First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Vesna Pusić, announced that Croatia would donate about USD 1.3 million for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
The conference was organised by the governments of Egypt and Norway and was attended, among others, by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, US Secretary of State John Kerry and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton.
The conference was told that at least USD 4 billion was needed for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip following fighting in July and August in which 61,000 houses had been destroyed and 2,200 Palestinians and 73 Israelis had been killed.
Pusić said that all those attending believed that the conference should be "a turning point in politics towards Gaza as an integral part of the Palestinian state."
"The purpose of this conference is not just to raise a lot of money to ease the conscience of the world who has been quite helplessly watching the destruction in Gaza, but also to encourage a speedy, effective, viable and lasting solution to peace in Gaza ... by establishing a Palestinian state and ensuring lasting security for Israel," Pusić said.
"In order to achieve that, it is necessary to return to negotiations that will lead to the two-state solution, with the two states -- Palestine and Israel -- living side by side without blocking each other or threatening each other's security," she said, adding that this project was necessary so that such destruction would never happen again.
Pusić said that Croatia would donate slightly less than USD 1.3 million to the Palestinians through various projects over the next four years. "Some of those funds will go directly into bilateral projects which we have with the Palestinian authorities, while some will go through UN agencies or through a Palestinian agency run by the World Bank."
"We have a tradition of collaborating with the Palestinian authorities. Since the funds are limited, projects must be smart, useful and recognisable," Pusić said. "We will continue the project for the treatment of Palestinian children with respiratory problems, the project of Palestinian and Israeli non-governmental organisations meeting under our auspices, the scholarship project for young diplomats, and will begin a project to provide equipment for a maternity ward in a hospital."
Since 2008, in its capacity as a donor, Croatia has implemented with the Palestinian Authority several development projects worth about USD 300,000 in total. The cooperation focused on several areas such as medical rehabilitation of children, reproductive health of women, diplomatic and higher education, international dialogue and reconciliation. The Croatian government is considering expanding the cooperation next year to include treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, disarmament, demobilisation and employment of war veterans.