The reconstruction of Gaza has a price tag: approximately $70 billion, according to the joint estimate of the UN, European Union, and World Bank. It is a number that puts the scale of the challenge in stark perspective — and exposes the enormous gap between what has been promised and what is needed.
Trump claimed this week that board member countries had pledged $5 billion toward rebuilding. That figure has not been publicly documented. Even at face value, it represents roughly 7% of the total estimated need. The remaining $65 billion has no identified source, no committed donor, and no timeline for mobilization.
Raising $70 billion for Gaza’s reconstruction requires political conditions that do not currently exist. International donors — whether governments or private investors — will not commit funds to a territory where governance is unclear, security is uncertain, and the legal framework for investment is undefined. Kushner’s vision of attracting international capital to a rebuilt Gaza presupposes precisely the stable, governed, demilitarized environment that the peace process has not yet created.
The funding challenge is compounded by the sequencing problem: reconstruction cannot begin until Hamas disarms, according to Netanyahu. Hamas disarmament requires a political process that has not been completed. The political process requires a governance transition that has not started. The governance transition requires a committee that cannot yet enter Gaza. Every step of the chain leads back to the same unresolved starting point.
As Trump’s Board of Peace held its first meeting Thursday, the $70 billion price tag remained the most concrete measure of the distance between where things are and where they need to be. Bridging that gap requires not just fundraising but a complete resolution of the political and security questions that are preventing reconstruction from beginning.