Massive donations to rebuild Gaza amid fears of repeated conflict

15-year-old Lama outside her home, which was bombed during the conflict.Christian Aid / Heidi Levine

International donors have pledged $5.4 billion (£3.4 billion) to rebuild Gaza after houses and infrastructure were destroyed by the Israeli onslaught earlier this year.

However, Christian Aid has said "Gaza needs more than money". Spokesman William Bell said: "While generous funding pledges are hugely important for urgent humanitarian relief and starting reconstruction, political will and support for an end to the status quo will be critical in preventing a continuation of the cycle of construction/destruction.

"Without an end to the blockade and an opportunity for the private sector to invest in Gaza, then the aid dependency and despair that persist now will condemn generations to a future without hope."

Around 100,000 Gazans lost their homes in the conflict, which Israel initiated to break the power of Hamas and prevent it launching rocket attacks across the border. Gaza's only power station was destroyed as well as around 60 hospitals and clinics.

At a donor conference in Cairo on Sunday, governments agreed that half of the money would be dedicated to reconstruction, with the rest unallocated at present. £622 million has been offered by Qatar and £132 million by the US. European Union states will give £353 million.

However, Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman had previously said that any rebuilding would need his country's consent, though he added: "We will try to be positive about the civil infrastructure and the rehabilitation of civilians." Strict controls on the use of materials are likely in order to prevent Hamas rebuilding the network of tunnels destroyed by the Israelis.

Representatives of donor nations urged the need for a long-term solution to the territory's problems. UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said: "There is widespread concern that - after three destructive conflicts in the past six years - any help to Gaza will eventually be lost in more violence."

He said the situation in Gaza remained potentially explosive: "Gaza remains a tinderbox, the people desperately need to see results in their daily lives.

"This must be the last time."