Gaza reconstruction will cost $71 billion, EU foreign policy chief says

Rebuilding Gaza will cost an estimated $71bn, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said, underscoring the scale of the destruction as European leaders weigh both aid and pressure on Israel.

Speaking in Brussels during a series of meetings focused on the Palestinian issue, Ms Kallas said the estimate had been developed after months of talks with the World Bank and the United Nations.

The EU is bringing together countries that have committed to backing a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict, alongside a donor conference aimed at mobilising support.

After meeting Palestinian Authority prime minister Mohammed Mustafa, Ms Kallas said: “I often hear accusations of double standards, that we support Ukraine, but we don’t support the Palestinians.

“You will not find a stronger supporter of the Palestinian people anywhere in the world.”

Ms Kallas also said EU foreign ministers will tomorrow consider a joint appeal from Ireland, Spain and Slovenia to review the EU-Israel Association Agreement when they meet in Luxembourg.

At the weekend, Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee wrote jointly with her Spanish and Slovenian counterparts to Ms Kallas, urging a review of the agreement in light of an escalation in settler violence in the West Bank, Israel’s intervention in Lebanon and a Knesset law calling for the death penalty for any Palestinian convicted in a military court of a deadly attack on Israelis in the West Bank.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the estimate followed months of talks with the World Bank and the United Nations

Yesterday, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez went further, calling for the full suspension of the agreement, which governs trade and other bilateral ties.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar hit back in a social media post in Spanish, saying his country would “not accept hypocritical lectures from someone who keeps ties with totalitarian regimes”, referencing Turkey and Venezuela under former leader Nicolas Maduro.

Speaking this afternoon, Ms Kallas confirmed that the Irish-Spanish-Slovene proposal will feature on the agenda at tomorrow’s meeting of foreign ministers.

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez called for the agreement to be fully suspended (file image)

“Member states have put this on the table, the suspension of the Association Agreement, which requires a [unanimous] position,” she told reporters.

“At the same time, we already have [trade] measures on the table, some of them that require a qualified majority. First, I think it should be assessed whether it’s possible to move with those if the member states wish to do so, to put pressure on Israel. But this is what we are going to discuss tomorrow, so I will not run ahead of the events.”

Ireland and Spain first sought a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement in February 2024, arguing that Israel was allegedly in breach of Article 2, which binds both sides to human rights and international humanitarian law.

That push failed to win consensus among member states, with Germany, Hungary, Czechia and others opposed.

A later Dutch initiative, however, led to a review that found Israel was “likely” in breach of Article 2.

Last summer, member states stopped short of recommending suspension after Israel indicated it would allow greater humanitarian access into Gaza.

Ms Kallas also said the EU would not take part in US President Donald Trump’s so-called Board of Peace, which is intended to oversee a post-war settlement in Gaza, because it had strayed from the original aims of the UN Security Council resolution, which envisages a role for the Palestinian Authority and was meant to be temporary.

She said, however, that the Global Initiative for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution could operate in parallel with the US-backed body.

Ms Kallas added that it was “very important” that Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Mustafa had met the Board of Peace’s special envoy, Nikolay Mladenov, who attended the Brussels meeting.

“For us, the role of Palestinians in building up Palestinian state is the most important. It has to be Palestinian-led, and Palestinian-owned,” she said.