Media coverage
Emarat Al Youm · 2021-11-22
The piece examines Egypt’s return to the Gaza Strip through reconstruction projects after the latest war between Israel and Hamas, including the construction of the coastal Corniche road and two residential neighborhoods funded by a $500 million Egyptian grant. It explains that Cairo is seeking to restore its political role in the enclave through reconstruction, at a time when Hamas needs external assistance to rebuild infrastructure and maintain good relations with Egypt.
The piece examines Egypt’s return to the Gaza Strip through reconstruction projects after the latest war between Israel and Hamas, including the construction of the coastal Corniche road and two residential neighborhoods funded by a $500 million Egyptian grant. It explains that Cairo is seeking to…
## Cairo has begun constructing a main road on the seafront and two residential neighborhoods
Egyptian workers are participating in reconstruction projects. AFP
## Egyptian workers are participating in reconstruction projects. AFP
Omar Shaban: The Egyptian president’s political vision is based on investing millions of dollars on the land of the Gaza Strip. AFP
## Omar Shaban: The Egyptian president’s political vision is based on investing millions of dollars on the land of the Gaza Strip. AFP
An aerial view of the works being carried out on the Corniche Road. AFP
## An aerial view of the works being carried out on the Corniche Road. AFP
An excavator levels the ground to complete construction of the coastal road. AFP
## An excavator levels the ground to complete construction of the coastal road. AFP
The coastal road project is one of the projects that Egypt will undertake in the Strip. AFP
## The coastal road project is one of the projects that Egypt will undertake in the Strip. AFP
Gaza (Palestinian Territories) ■ AFP
A huge image of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi towers over one of Gaza’s streets, embodying Cairo’s determination to restore its political role in the besieged Palestinian Strip through the gateway of reconstruction after the latest war between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement, “Hamas.”
Weeks after the war ended, last May, Cairo sent Egyptian workers and technicians to the Palestinian enclave to build a main road on the seafront west of Gaza City, and two residential neighborhoods in the north of the Strip and its center.
An Egyptian worker (30) participating in the project, preferring not to give his name, says he came to Gaza with about 70 engineers, workers, and truck drivers, adding: “I am happy to help our brothers in Palestine; the president’s instructions are to rebuild the Gaza Strip.”
A truck driver (26) says: “The first project we are carrying out is the Corniche Road,” noting that “the Egyptian grant also includes the construction of two residential cities, the first in Beit Hanoun (north), and the other in the city of al-Zahra” near the seashore.
During the war, Cairo played a major role in mediating between Israel and the Hamas movement to reach a ceasefire, and announced support for reconstruction projects in the Strip through a financial grant worth $500 million.
The 11-day confrontation resulted in the killing of 260 Palestinians, including 66 children and a number of fighters, and 13 people on the Israeli side, including a child, a girl, and a soldier, according to sources from both sides. About 1,500 homes were completely destroyed and around 60,000 Palestinian homes in the Strip were partially damaged.
Economic expert Omar Shaban says that the Egyptian president’s political vision is based on investing millions of dollars on the land of the Gaza Strip, explaining that “seeing Egyptian workers in Gaza was something unexpected and unimaginable.”
He notes that “Egypt and Hamas are not friends, but they have common interests,” considering that “Cairo wants to continue overseeing the ceasefire agreement through engagement in reconstruction.”
In order to rebuild infrastructure in the Strip, the Hamas movement needs external assistance, which compels it to maintain good relations with the Egyptian state, with which it shares a southern border.
The Rafah crossing with Egypt is the Strip’s only outlet to the outside world not controlled by Israel.
At the same time, Shaban believes that Egypt “realizes it does not have many options in Gaza, as Hamas still rules the Strip after four wars with Israel and about 15 years of blockade.”
Israel tightened its land, sea, and air blockade on the Strip, a narrow and densely populated coastal strip, nearly half of whose residents live below the poverty line, after Hamas took control of it in the summer of 2007.
Since Hamas rose to power, the State of Qatar has emerged as the largest donor to the Strip. But after the end of the latest war, the process of distributing Qatari humanitarian financial aid was suspended for three months because of discussions over the mechanism for bringing the funds into the Strip.
Last month, Qatar succeeded in disbursing $10 million to about 100,000 poor families in the Strip, after Israel approved a new distribution mechanism under United Nations supervision.
Before the latest military confrontation in May, the transfer of Qatari funds to Gaza had taken place in cash through the Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing.
But the dispute with Israel remains over paying the salaries of Hamas government employees, as Israel opposes cash payments for fear the money will reach armed Palestinian factions.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid recently urged Arab states that have official relations with Israel to engage in the reconstruction and development of the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas government estimates the direct losses from the latest Israeli war at about $479 million, in addition to about $600 million in losses from previous wars, according to Naji Sarhan, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works in Gaza.
These estimates exclude the costs of resolving the electricity and water crisis and repairing infrastructure, according to Sarhan, who believes that “assistance from Qatar is welcome, as is assistance from Egypt; we coordinate between the countries.”
The Egyptian support for constructing the coastal road (the Corniche) comes as a continuation of a main road intended to link the north of the Gaza Strip to its south; Qatar has built part of it along the coast of Gaza City.
The road funded by Egypt requires the removal of dozens of houses in al-Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City.
Roya al-Hissi (83), sitting in a rocking chair in her home, which is listed for removal under the project implementation plan, says: “They told us we would have to leave the place, and that we would get a new home.” She continues: “I do not mind leaving, as long as I find a bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen.”
On the other side of the narrow road, businessman Maher al-Baqa supervises the construction of a large café on the beach and says: “The new Corniche will attract many customers,” but adds with a smile: “But wait, this is Gaza, and we never know when a new war may break out.”
• To rebuild infrastructure in the Strip, the Hamas movement needs external assistance, which compels it to maintain good relations with the Egyptian state, with which it shares a southern border.
• The Hamas government estimates the direct losses from the latest Israeli war at about US$479 million, in addition to about $600 million in losses from previous wars.
• During the war, Cairo played a major role in mediating between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire, and announced support for reconstruction projects in the Strip through a grant worth $500 million.
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Text © Emarat Al Youm — archived here with attribution to the source. — Machine translation for archival reference. — Original source