U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, left, meets with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, right, at an international donors conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Monday. (Amr Nabil/Associated Press) The international community has promised $4.48 billion in new funding to help rebuild the Gaza strip, said Egypt's Foreign Minister Monday at a conference focused on reconstructing the battered territory.

Saying the figure was beyond expectations, Ahmed Aboul Gheit confirmed that donor countries will recommit themselves to giving past aid money that was promised but never delivered, bringing the total aid figure to approximately $5.2 billion.

The Palestinian Authority had asked donors at the conference in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh to fund a $2.8-billion reconstruction and recovery plan. Rival Hamas was not invited.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the funding, but said a political solution was needed to achieve peace.

Saudi Arabia pledged $1 billion in aid, and the United States said it would give $900 million.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave no breakdown of the funds, but her spokesman, Robert A. Wood, said on Sunday that it included $300 million in humanitarian aid for Gaza and about $600 million in budget and development aid to the Palestinian Authority, which is based in the West Bank.

Clinton said Monday that the United States was committed to helping find a way for Israelis and Palestinians to co-exist peacefully in two separate states. She called on all sides to stop the cycle of violence in the region.

"We cannot afford more setbacks or delays — or regrets about what might have been, had different decisions been made," she said in apparent reference to the failure of previous peace initiatives, including those pushed vigorously by her husband's administration.

Hamas excluded

The flow of international relief aid to help Palestinians rebuild follows the end of Israel's 22-day offensive in Gaza on Jan. 18. The attacks left thousands homeless, destroyed hundreds of factories and billions of dollars in infrastructure.

Clinton echoed a call made by many of the 75 countries attending the conference, saying none of the aid should go through the hands of the Hamas government in Gaza. The U.S. has maintained that for Hamas to be recognized as a government, it must recognize Israel's right to exist, honour past peace agreements and suspend violence.

Canada, the United States and the European Union all consider Hamas a terrorist organization.

"The real challenge isn't getting the money. It's finding a way to get that money to the people who so desperately need it," said the CBC's Peter Armstrong in Jerusalem.

"So that is going to be obviously very difficult considering the fact that Hamas is still very firmly in charge of Gaza."

Another complication is the status of the tightly controlled Israeli-Gaza border. Currently, Israel only allows essential humanitarian aid to go through the border. That policy has drawn criticism from a number of international parties, including the United States, the United Nations and Britain.

"No matter … how many billions of dollars are pledged, if they can't get concrete and steel and construction supplies into Gaza, they're simply not able to rebuild," said Armstrong.

Canada gave $4 million in aid in January immediately after the cessation of hostilies in Gaza on Jan. 18. In 2006, Canada committed $300 million in aid to Gaza over five years.

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, in attendance at the conference, has said the question of border openness is one best answered by the Israeli government.

Israel has offered no assurances that it would open border crossings to Gaza in order to facilitate large scale reconstruction.

On his first trip to the Middle East as Foreign Affairs Minister, Cannon visited Jordan on Saturday and Israel on Sunday, but has yet to tour Gaza. He did, however, meet with Abbas, and reiterated Canada's support for his leadership.

Also Monday, the Middle East Quartet — a bloc comprising the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States — is due to meet on the sidelines of the Sharm el-Sheikh conference.

With files from the Associated Press