The Arab world and the Islamist group, however, do not seem to take the pledge seriously, as various Islamic bodies have formed the "special Arab committee for the rehabilitation of Gaza," said to be based in Jordan.
The new group is headed by Wa'el Saqqa, president of Jordan's engineers association and it intended to raise funds for the fledgling Strip by means of an IPO – an initial public offering of Gaza "stocks."
The group is offering symbolic stocks for Arab institutions and tycoons, priced at 50 and 100 Jordanian dinars (roughly $70 and $140 respectively) per share. The group hopes to raise $2 billion.
Saqqa did not attempt to disguise the fact that the investment of the funds raised by the IPO will be made only after the proper government bodies in Gaza – i.e. Hamas ones – would be consulted.
In a press conference held on Saturday, he stressed that his committee intended on holding weekly video conference calls with Gaza representatives in order to discuss the Strip's rehabilitation.
A similar initiative has recently been taking shape in Tehran. The Iranians too do not intend to wait for the international community to donate funds to rebuild Gaza, nor do they wish to contend with any mechanism meant to prevent Hamas' access to the funds, since Iran aimsto bolster the Islamist group's hold on Gaza.
Dr. Gil Feiler is founder and managing director of Info-Prod Research (Middle East) Ltd , and Doron Peskin is head of research