International donors pledged more than $2 billion in aid to Gaza on Sunday at a conference in Kuwait City, AFP reported.
The symposium was organized by the International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Funds will be distributed over two years, with the possibility of an extension, and will focus on five areas—"life-saving interventions, shelter, health, education and economic empowerment,” IICO general manager Bad Saud al-Sumait said as he read the conference’s final statement.
Sumait said that the initiative is intended “to mobilize efforts to support life-saving humanitarian interventions in the Gaza Strip and to support the prospects for early recovery for the population.”
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called for an immediate end to the war, the return of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas and a massive increase in aid to Gaza in a video address to the gathering.
“I repeat my call, the world’s call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all captives, and an immediate surge in humanitarian aid,” said Guterres, adding that “a ceasefire will only be the start. It will be a long road back from the devastation and trauma of this war.”
The Gaza war began after the Hamas terrorist group launched a bloody attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, murdering some 1,200 people, wounding thousands more, and kidnapping 253, of which over 100 are still in captivity.
