Kushner urges EU to bypass UN in €900m Gaza aid package
A nearly €900 million EU-led recovery package for Gaza has opened a transatlantic rift after Jared Kushner called for sidelining traditional United Nations aid channels to prevent funds reaching Hamas.
European and Arab ministers launched a nearly €900 million recovery package for Gaza during a closed-door meeting in Brussels, but the event was immediately overshadowed by a push from Washington to dismantle the existing humanitarian funding system.
Addressing the conference via video link, Jared Kushner argued that current aid initiatives are "designed step by step by NGOs and terrorists". The US president's son-in-law, who holds no formal cabinet position but serves on the US-backed Board of Peace, warned that money had indirectly financed Hamas to buy weapons and build tunnels.
He described Gaza as "a perpetual uncapped liability" where donors are "constantly putting novocaine on the problem." "Change is like heaven: everyone wants to go there, but nobody wants to die," he told the gathering, according to people familiar with the private talks.
Kushner did not name the UN agency for Palestinian refugees directly, but his remarks signalled clear support for sidelining the organisation. This creates a significant funding dilemma for Europe. The EU is UNRWA's largest donor, and several member states have already criticised the Commission for allowing the Board of Peace, rather than the UN, to lead reconstruction talks.
The distribution dispute has direct implications for how the €900 million package is deployed. Shifting control away from established UN structures toward a new framework would fundamentally alter the flow of European public money, dictating which entities secure contracts and how financial oversight is enforced in a volatile environment.
Kushner tied any economic recovery to the complete demilitarisation of Hamas, stressing the principle of "one government with one gun". He suggested to attendees that the ultimate objective of the reconstruction effort should be to ensure no further international donor conferences on Gaza are ever required.
Despite the underlying friction, diplomats noted his overall tone was conciliatory. He praised Egypt and Turkey, arguing that Arab states possess the best capacity to rapidly build new infrastructure for Gaza's more than two million residents.
EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica, who has invested considerable effort in cultivating ties with Kushner since the Board of Peace's first meeting in February, declined to address his criticisms directly. "Only a collective effort can help rebuild Gaza," she said after the session.
