• 66 projects target housing and economic recovery over six months
• Israeli fire kills two people in Gaza, officials say
• UN chief warns time running out for two-state solution

NEW YORK: US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace announced a $2.45 billion Gaza recovery plan on Wednesday at a meeting of its members and stakeholders, in an effort meant to span over six months.

The presentation in New York coincided with the UN General Assembly, where world leaders like French Presi­dent Emmanuel Macron and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took aim at the humanitarian situation in Gaza and called for action to end the conflict.

The proposal involves 66 projects spanning over six months, covering temporary housing and efforts toward economic recovery.

Trump is the chairman of the Board of Peace, which was initially designed to oversee a Gaza truce and the territory’s reconstruction following the war between Hamas and Israel.

Nickolay Mladenov, the board’s high representative for Gaza, urged backing for the plan. Acknowledging that discussions with Israel are not easy ahead of the country’s elections, he noted conditions are politically sensitive.

“Given the complexity of what we’re dealing with,” Mladenov said, progress is being made. Also present at Wednesday’s gathering were Trump’s roving envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Israeli killings

Meanwhile, on the ground in Gaza, an Israeli airstrike hit a vehicle in western Khan Younis on Wednesday, killing two men and wounding two others, local health officials said. Medics identified the dead as Osama Abu Khater and Mohammad Abu Elwan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement the military had killed Abu Elwan, describing him as a senior Hamas finance official.

“We will not allow Hamas to rebuild its strength, and we will not stop until Hamas no longer exists in Gaza,” the statement said.

Hamas did not immediately comment.

Palestinian authorities say more than 73,000 people have been killed in Israel’s assault since Oct 7, 2023. UN figures show that by October 2025, Israeli strikes had left 84 per cent of all structures damaged or destroyed.

A US-brokered ceasefire agreed to last year calls for eventual reconstruction, but little progress has been made. Negotiators have failed to agree on terms for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its troops, and airstrikes have continued.

Since the ceasefire took effect, at least 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed, according to territory health officials. The Israeli military says four Israeli soldiers have been killed. Israel and Hamas trade blame over responsibility for ceasefire violations.

‘Illegal expansion’

Separately, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that the two-state solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict is at risk of collapse amid illegal Israeli settlement expansion and annexation.

Speaking at a high-level meeting on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, Guterres said actions on the ground in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are threatening progress.

“The conditions for an independent, democratic, contiguous, viable and sovereign Palestinian state are being systematically erased,” he said, pointing to Israeli actions from war-ravaged Gaza to settler attacks in the West Bank.

The meeting, titled “The Road Ahead”, examines the two-state solution and a comprehensive peace plan for Gaza. It builds on the September 2025 adoption of the New York Declaration to end the war that erupted in 2023, which has led to widespread destruction and more than 70,000 Palestinians killed.

Guterres called for full implementation of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point provisional deal and the October 2025 ceasefire. He also urged an end to settlement expansion, prevention of annexation and support for Palestinian institutions.

“There is simply no alternative,” he said, “and time is running out.”

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2026