Angelina Jolie could set up 'huge shelter for Gaza orphans'

Angelina Jolie could establish a shelter for orphans in Gaza, a Palestinian activist said on Monday, as he called for more overseas support to help the enclave recover from Israel's devastating war.

Samer Sinijlawi, an advocate of a two state-solution, welcomed reports that the Hollywood actress and former UN goodwill ambassador could be involved in efforts to rebuild Gaza after the conflict.

“I’ve been aware of the intention of Angelina Jolie to do a huge SOS village for orphans in Gaza,” he told an online panel convened by the Candid Foundation in Germany.

It could cost $80 billion and take many years, even decades, to rebuild Gaza, estimates from the UN and other organisations say.

A reconstruction conference in Cairo next month aims to attract private investment, as the costs cannot be met by governments alone.

“There are some people who can kick off certain ideas that can help Gazans, in parallel to what governments can do,” Mr Sinijlawi said. "We should not wait only for what governments are doing."

Jolie has spoken out against Israel's bombardment of Gaza. In a social media post in October 2023, she said: “What happened in Israel is an act of terror, but that cannot justify the innocent lives lost in bombing a civilian population in Gaza that has nowhere to go, no access to food or water, no possibility of evacuation and not even the basic human right to cross a border to seek refuge."

Her agent was contacted for comment.

US envoy Steve Witkoff and White House adviser Jared Kushner arrived in Israel on Monday to discuss the truce plan with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after weekend violence in Gaza threatened to wreck the ceasefire.

Efforts to rebuild the enclave can only proceed if the fragile US-brokered ceasefire holds. But Gazans have raised concerns that they could be left out of the process. The 20-point peace plan states the enclave will be administered by an international Board of Peace and peacekeeping force.

The Gaza Chamber of Commerce, which represents traders in the enclave and abroad, has not been invited to the Cairo conference, its chairman said on Monday. “The future of Gaza will not be decided in donor conferences or by foreign administrations. It must be shaped by Palestinians themselves through transparent, inclusive and accountable institutions,” Ayed Abu Ramadan said.

“Nothing will happen in Gaza without the involvement of Gazans. For too long, Gaza's fate has been discussed in international forums without meaningful local participation or presentation."

The chamber worked on a proposal for the recovery of the enclave while the war raged and many of its members were displaced. This includes repurposing the rubble to build a commercial port, a move Israel has opposed on environmental grounds.

Yet the main obstacle towards recovery is Israel’s occupation of Gaza. Mr Abu Ramadan urged European countries to put pressure on Israel to ensure free movement in and out of the enclave and allow access to farmland on the border, so Gaza can start trading internationally.

European leaders could also use their influence to ensure Palestinians are included in the Board of Peace, which is to be led by US President Donald Trump.

Elections are vital to reforming the Palestinian Authority and ending factionalism, Mr Sinijlawi said. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pledged to hold the first elections one year after a ceasefire came into effect.

Mr Sinijlawi believes elections in Gaza are logistically possible and necessary for ending Hamas’s control of the enclave. “If we want Hamas to start exiting the political scene in Gaza, it should be through elections because if they are not defeated in elections, they will not surrender voluntarily whatever they are controlling,” he said.

He added that the peace plan’s emphasis on “deradicalising” Gaza was “short-sighted” if that did not happen in tandem with efforts to support democracy and development in Gaza. “If you do not give hope, some people will go to the left side,” he said.