Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah says only half of the money pledged during the donor conference in Cairo will be dedicated to Gaza reconstruction, while the other half will be spent on other Palestinian needs in the coming three years.

Speaking at a joint news conference with UN secretary-general Ban Ki Mooon in Ramallah, Hamdallah said the Palestinians’ main goal was to end the Israeli occupation.

He said officials at the Gaza reconstruction conference in Cairo had asserted that Israel and the Palestinian factions should adhere to the ceasefire agreement and seek to reach a permanent ceasefire in order to help with the reconstruction efforts.

Ban Ki-moon, for his part, said he brought a message of hope to rebuild the Gaza Strip in order to try and create a better future for the people of Gaza, where thousands of innocent people have died and hundreds of thousands have been suffering.

While he insisted that rebuilding Gaza was a priority, Ban said that it was more important to avoid a repetition of the same situation. The Gaza Strip, he said, was destroyed three times before and it’s time to make sure this destruction comes to an end.

He also denounced the settlement activities the Israeli government has been carrying out along with incitement in Jerusalem which would only lead to more tension. The occupation, added Ban, has gone on for decades and “now it’s time for a two-state solution, and the UN will continue to exert efforts for that end.”

(Ma’an – www.maannews.net)