Report: Israel agreed to US demand to pay for massive Gaza rubble-clearing operation

The US demanded this week from Israel that it pay for the clearing of rubble from the Gaza Strip, and to be responsible for the massive engineering operation, Ynet reports, citing a senior Israeli official.

Israel agreed to the request, according to the report, which will cost up to one billion shekels.

The Prime Minister’s Office does not respond to requests for comment.

According to The Wall Street Journal, there are 68 million tons of debris in Gaza, according to the UN Development Program.

Earlier this week, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Sunday that his country will not foot the bill for rebuilding Gaza. “We are not the ones who are going to write the check to rebuild what others destroyed,” Al Thani said during an onstage interview at the Doha Forum, an annual diplomatic conference. “When you are talking about Gaza, Israel flattened this land.”

According to the Ynet report, US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week to try to convince Israel to accept Turkish troops in Gaza, something Israel says it will not countenance.

The senior Israeli official tells the outlet that the US is focusing in conversations with Israel more on rebuilding and less on how to disarm Hamas. Netanyahu has been saying in private conversations that the task will ultimately fall on Israeli forces, according to the official.