The Palestine Research Center Organizes a Seminar on Non-Palestinian Plans for Gaza Reconstruction

The Palestinian Research Center organized a seminar on Monday to discuss a research paper entitled "Non-Palestinian Plans for Gaza Reconstruction: Marginalization of the Palestinian Role or Partnership with It?" The seminar was presented by George Zeidan, Director of the Carter Center in Palestine, with the participation of a select group of researchers, specialists, and representatives of official and civil society organizations.

Participants in the discussion includes: Estephan Salameh, former Advisor to the Prime Minister for Planning and Aid Coordination, and Mohammad Ziara, former Minister of Public Works and former Chairman of the Gaza Reconstruction Committee. The seminar was moderated by Dr. Montaser Jarrar, Director of the Palestine Research Center.

The paper highlighted a number of plans and initiatives proposed by international bodies regarding the future of reconstruction in the Gaza Strip, following the widespread destruction caused by the recent Israeli war.

The paper compared eight prominent plans and reviewed other plans, noting that most of them exclude the Palestinian Authority and its institutions, and assume the roles of implementation and oversight are assigned to external parties.

The paper demonstrated that these plans were supported by institutions that do not believe in the two-state solution or the rights of the Palestinian people. Rather, they oppose the Palestinian National Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization, and do not propose any political solution that guarantees an end to the war or a comprehensive settlement.

The paper noted that these initiatives do not address the genocide and ethnic cleansing perpetrated by Israel in Gaza, nor do they refer to the geographic and political connection between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The paper also emphasized that most of the plans link reconstruction to strict Israeli security conditions, without any commitment to lifting the seige or recognizing Palestinian national rights.

In the discussions that followed the presentation of the paper, the speakers emphasized that the real danger lies in "reconstructing Gaza without its people," that is, without the participation of the legitimate Palestinian National Authority and its institutions, and without genuine popular representation. The speakers also warned that some plans, despite their declared humanitarian nature, conceal a political project that reshapes the Palestinian landscape, weakens the unity of national decision-making, and thwarts opportunities for actual independence.

The seminar concluded with a set of recommendations, most notably the rejection of any reconstruction plan that does not stem from comprehensive national consensus and the formulation of a Palestinian vision. A unified plan led by official Palestinian institutions, linking reconstruction to political liberation, and developing a sovereign and developmental plan that preserves financial and administrative independence, based on transparency and national oversight, rejects international tutelage or temporary solutions that undermine Palestinian sovereignty, and calls for professional and impartial international oversight of funding and implementation mechanisms, free from any political agendas.

The symposium's recommendations also emphasized the need to hold Israel fully responsible for the destruction and killing in Gaza.

The speakers called for any reconstruction plan to be consistent with UN resolutions and international law, and for any plan to aim to prevent displacement, ensure the free entry of goods, and facilitate Palestinian lives.

They emphasized the need to maintain the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as a tool for relief and development and a guardian of Palestinian national memory. They also emphasized the need to confront the war waged against it, while the destruction of camps and villages in the West Bank continues, calling for the defense of its vital role in this context.

The Palestine Research Center emphasized that the reconstruction of Gaza must be a gateway to strengthening national unity, not a means of imposing partial solutions, or reproducing the reality of domination, and that enabling the Palestinian people to determine their political and economic destiny is the true gateway to any sustainable and just reconstruction process.