Officials and representatives from over 70 countries and some 15 organizations kicked off on Monday morning an international donors' conference to plan the reconstruction of the Palestinian Gaza Strip hit by a 22-day Israeli military operation.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak gave a speech at the opening session of the conference, calling for international efforts to raise funds for the rebuilding of Gaza.
The high-level international donors' conference, co-chaired by Egypt and Norway, were attended by UN Secratary-General Ban Ki- moon, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) will request 2.8 billion U.S. dollars at the conference for Gaza reconstruction, acting Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has said in an official report.
The PNA will also disclose a two-year economic plan aimed to revive the economy of Gaza Strip, which is made up of 25 articles and involves the establishment of projects for all sectors.
The Israeli massive onslaught, which ended on Jan. 18, has killed more than 1,300 Palestinians and wounded 5,500 others. The attack also destroyed more than 14,000 homes, 68 government buildings and 31 offices of nongovernmental organizations, according to UN reports.
(Xinhua News Agency March 2, 2009)