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Team Gaza in Brussels
The European Commission announced the launch of a joint initiative with 15 partners to provide €883.6 million (about $1 billion) in assistance to support recovery efforts in the Gaza Strip.
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, “Heartwarming to see the success of our second Palestine Donor Group meeting today, with 65 participating countries and institutions,” as the meeting took place in Brussels.
Dubravka Suica, the EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean, said the Team Gaza Initiative brought together EU member states and international partners with the goal to support early recovery “in a co-ordinated way”.
The initiative is intended to co-ordinate early recovery projects in Gaza to address the restoration of basic services for the population, including water and sanitation infrastructure, the removal of debris, and restoration of health, energy, agriculture and food systems.
The UK separately announced a £10 million ($13.4 million) donation to the UN Horizon Fund, described as enabling a Palestinian-led, UN-co-ordinated approach to early recovery working alongside key European and international partners.
Ceasefire, rubble, and next steps
In Brussels, Dubravka Šuica said, “The ceasefire in Gaza remains fragile, and the situation on the ground for civilians is not getting better,” when she announced the fund after a meeting of the Palestine Donors Group.
A senior EU official told the AP that the European Union coordinated efforts to raise 900 million euros ($1 billion) in pledges of aid for Gaza’s rebuilding following two years of Israeli bombardment that left much of the Palestinian enclave in ruins.
The AP reported that the United Nations, World Bank and EU estimate that reconstruction will cost $70 billion, and that the U.N. has said Gaza has more than 60 million tons of rubble, enough to fill nearly 3,000 container ships.
Nickolay Mladenov, the head of the Board of Peace set up by U.S. President Donald Trump to lead Gaza’s reconstruction, made clear that the next steps in implementing the ceasefire are stalled over disarming Hamas militants in Gaza.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said, “We are investing not only in the Palestinian future but also in the regional stability, shared security and just and lasting peace for everyone together,” while calling for “a resilient, sovereign, contiguous and viable Palestinian state”.
EU politics and accountability
At a Brussels meeting of the Alliance mondiale pour la solution à deux États between Israel and the Palestine, Belgium’s foreign minister Maxime Prévot said, “Nous nous retrouvons au milieu de la tempête,” as the EU displayed support for Palestinians.
“European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica, front center right, and Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, front center left, pose for a group photo with other officials at a Palestinian Donors Group meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels, Monday, July 13, 2026”
Le Figaro quoted EU diplomacy chief Kaja Kallas saying the two-state solution is the only “façon pour les Palestiniens comme pour les Israéliens de vivre en sécurité, dans la dignité et dans la paix,” alongside Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa.
The European Commission proposed to suspend totally or partially the EU-Israel association agreement, but Le Figaro said the measure “est pour l'instant restée lettre morte” due to a lack of majority.
Le Figaro also said the Commission proposed sanctions against extremist Israeli settlers in Cisjordanie, but those sanctions were blocked for months by a veto of the Hongrie, with the EU hoping the electoral defeat of Viktor Orban on 12 avril would change the situation.
In Luxembourg, the EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the European Council’s legal service found that severing trade ties with Israeli settlements in the West Bank would require a majority vote and not total unanimity, while Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel said, “I hope that now it’s time for decisions.”
