Nickolay Mladenov, director-general of the Peace Council, urged countries to support the Gaza Board of Peace's proposed reconstruction plan for Gaza on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.
“We are not working according to a timetable, first ensuring that every step we take will be good for Israel and the residents of Gaza," Mladenov said. “Please support this plan. We want to build something new in Gaza, something better, that will give peace a real chance to endure.”
Former British prime minister Tony Blair added that while there is "talk about 'liberating Palestine,'" it is not what the residents of Gaza need.
"The residents of Gaza do not need slogans; they need a solution, and that will not happen if it is ruled by those who dragged them into war," Blair stated.
“Beneath Gaza’s cities and villages, there are kilometers of tunnels with weapons depots," he added. "The new administration will not be able to function unless all of this infrastructure is dismantled. Hamas agreed to this, and we are carrying this out now step by step.”
Ali Shaath, the chief commissioner of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), presented the outline of a plan to reorganize Gaza’s governance and service systems under the NCAG.
According to Shaath's presentation, the new structure will be based on “one authority, one law and one weapon,” while preserving workers’ rights, consolidating policy and budgeting, and using technology as much as possible to create a "transparent structure."
The presentation also said NCAG's immediate next step would be a full, independent audit of Gaza’s governance systems, workforce, finances, services, and assets.
The BoP presented five immediate humanitarian actions expected to begin before the NCAG becomes fully operational: emergency waste management, winter preparedness, emergency rehabilitation of water and sanitation infrastructure, medical evacuations for those most in need, and responses to shelter and housing needs.
Additionally, the BoP's plan includes a gradual transition from direct aid to digital funds and vouchers, in cooperation with the UN and other organizations, for services provided through the private sector.
Major-General Jasper Jeffers, commander of the International Stabilization Force, presented the proposed security plan for the Gaza Strip, according to which demilitarization will be carried out gradually, area by area. After an area is "verifiably demilitarized," the IDF will begin withdrawing.
Once that is complete, an NCAG-backed police force will assume responsibility for civilian security.
Earlier on Wednesday, Axios reported that the BoP is expected to unveil a six-month, $2.45 billion recovery and reconstruction plan during an upcoming meeting of its members.
According to Axios, the proposed 66-project plan outlines what the first months of post-war governance and reconstruction would look like for the Gaza Strip.
For the plan to proceed, however, Hamas needs to cooperate with ceasefire and disarmament requirements.
The estimated cost of the reconstruction reportedly includes budgeting for temporary housing, rubble removal, hospital repairs, and the deployment of the International Stabilization Force (ISF).
The outline reportedly took a year to formulate through cooperation between dozens of BoP personnel and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG).
"The plan shows how to stand up a government from nothing, an economy from shambles and a territory from disaster," a Board of Peace official told Axios.
The plan’s 66 projects will be divided between six main areas consisting of infrastructure development, human development, economic acceleration, digital transformation, legal affairs, and peace and security, according to Axios,
Around $1 billion to be used for Gaza infrastructure repairs
Infrastructure development is set to account for around $1 billion of the budget, with an estimated $400 million set aside for building temporary shelters and $50 million for hospital repairs.
Another $275 million will be used to clear rubble and unexploded ordnance from Gaza, and $30 million will be put towards repairing road networks.
Hamas weapon buy-back program to be included in security projects
According to Axios, roughly $885 million will be allocated for security projects, including a $20 million weapons buy-back program aimed at incentivizing Hamas and other terrorist groups to surrender their arms.
A significant portion of the security area budget, $415 billion, will go towards supporting the ISF and building a permanent site capable of supporting 5,000 personnel in Rafah. Of that, $140 million will fund recruiting, training, and deploying ISF troops.
Another $120 million would be utilized to mobilize a Palestinian police force made up of Palestinians who have been selected and vetted for the role.
Axios noted that a key challenge for the execution of the plan is funding. As of Wednesday, the BoP and NCAG have not yet secured the $2.45 billion needed for the six-month plan.
The full reconstruction, however, is expected to cost around $71.4 billion over the next decade.
Idan Kweller contributed to this report.