The international donor group for Palestine, the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), will meet in New York at the end of September to discuss the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip. It will be the first such meeting to be attended by Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Brig. Gen. (res.) Kamil Abu Rukon as well as Minister for Regional Cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi. It was planned a few months ago as a routine gathering but in light of the American cut in assistance to UNRWA, it has become an emergency meeting to find financial alternatives. According to senior members of Israel’s Civil Administration, UNRWA is likely to collapse in the coming year. One official told Al-Monitor that if successful, the meeting could prevent another war between Israel and Hamas.
The planned get-together in New York highlights the paradox in the relations between Israel, Hamas and the Donald Trump administration. Several Israeli ministers applauded Washington’s decision to cut UNRWA's funding. Nevertheless, Israel is now counting on global funding to save the Strip from collapse.
