The Israeli Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combatting Antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, said on Wednesday 17 April that the EU should participate in rebuilding Gaza.
“The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt (...) need to reshape Gaza and rebuild Gaza with the assistance of the United States, the EU, etc.”, he explained during an exchange with journalists in Brussels. 60% of the buildings in the Gaza Strip are said to have been destroyed.
According to the minister, once the operation in Gaza is over, Israel will regulate the “civilian aspects for several months ( ...) until we have a coalition of states ready to assume their responsibilities”.
“The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, these are the players who need to be involved in the renovation and de-escalation of Gaza”, he stressed, adding that Qatar or President Erdoğan’s party in Turkey (AKP) should not be involved, as they have “the same ideology” as Hamas.
Before focusing on the day after, “we have to focus on the present”, said the minister, pointing out that Hamas is still in power. “We cannot allow Hamas to survive. We need to finish this war”, he added, estimating that this could take another 6 months. While Israel is being criticised for its bombardments, which are said to have claimed more than 33,000 victims, Mr Chikli pointed out that Hamas was fighting among the population, in some cases “using them in a brutal way to protect themselves”. “Civilians can be hit unintentionally, that’s a reality, a tough reality”, he added.
The minister also criticised Gaza’s neighbours for not welcoming the population. “Egypt and other Arab countries have taken none of the refugees. It says a lot about how much they care about the Palestinians”, he criticised. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with Nithya Paquiry)