chargement...
On February 19 in Washington, the Gaza Peace Council, launched at the initiative of President Donald Trump, officially came into being, with Morocco among those in attendance. At the launch ceremony, several member states announced multimillion-dollar contributions to fund the new body’s work.
Nearly four months later, the promised money has still not arrived. «The Gaza reconstruction fund, set up by US President Donald Trump’s Peace Council, has still not received the billions of dollars pledged by donor countries», AFP noted.
Since it was established, the fund, administered by the World Bank and backed by the United Nations, has not recorded a single payment, a source close to the organization told the French news agency.
The information was corroborated by the Financial Times, which said the Council had received donations directly into a JPMorgan account, citing a spokesperson for the body. The British daily noted, however, that «no independent transparency requirements were in place for this JPMorgan account».
According to the newspaper, two payments, one from Morocco ($3 million) and the other from the United Arab Emirates ($20 million), were used in particular to cover the costs of the office of the High Representative, Nikolaï Mladenov.
The weak financial response comes as Israeli military operations continue in Gaza despite the ceasefire. Since it came into effect, at least 910 people have been killed, according to the Health Ministry in the Palestinian territory.
Israel still controls more than 60% of the devastated Gaza Strip, including all entry and exit points, while the Palestinian population remains overwhelmingly concentrated along the coast, AFP said.
