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
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 enclave 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 and center of the Strip.
An Egyptian worker (30), who is participating in the project and preferred not to give his name, says he came to Gaza with around 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 key 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 confrontations, which lasted 11 days, 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 about 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 ground in the Gaza Strip, explaining that “seeing Egyptian workers in Gaza was something unexpected and unimaginable.”
He mentions 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 obliges 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 that is not controlled by Israel.
At the same time, Shaban believes that Egypt “realizes that it does not have many options in Gaza, as ‘Hamas’ still rules the Strip after four wars with Israel and nearly 15 years of blockade.”
Israel tightened its land, sea, and air blockade on the Strip, a narrow and densely populated coastal strip where nearly half the population lives below the poverty line, after “Hamas” took control of it in the summer of 2007.
Since the rise of the “Hamas” movement 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 humanitarian financial aid provided by Qatar was suspended for three months because of talks over the mechanism for bringing the money 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 the payment of salaries to employees of the “Hamas” government, as Israel opposes payment in cash for fear that the money will reach the armed Palestinian factions.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid recently urged Arab states that maintain official relations with Israel to engage in the process of reconstructing and developing 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 well as from Egypt; we are coordinating among the states.”
The Egyptian support for constructing the coastal road (the Corniche) comes as a continuation of a main road aimed at linking the north of the Gaza Strip to its south, part of which Qatar built along the coast of Gaza City.
The road funded by Egypt requires the removal of dozens of homes in al-Shati Refugee Camp west of Gaza City.
Ru’ya al-Hassi (83), sitting in a rocking chair in her home, which is listed for removal under the project implementation plan, says: “They told us that we would have to leave the place, and that we would get a new house,” adding: “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 oversees the construction of a large café on the beach, and says: “The new Corniche will attract many customers,” but then adds with a smile: “But wait, this is Gaza, and we never know when a new war might break out.”
• To rebuild infrastructure in the Strip, the “Hamas” movement needs external assistance, which obliges 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 $479 million, in addition to about $600 million in losses from previous wars.
• During the war, Cairo played a key 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.
Text © Emarat Al Youm — archived here with attribution to the source. — Machine translation for archival reference. — Original source