International donors meeting in Egypt are expected to pledge billions of dollars to rebuild Gaza after Israel’s recent offensive. The Palestinian Authority (PA) is seeking $2.8bn in foreign aid.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas told the meeting that funding was “insufficient” without a political solution.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who pledged $900m, said the crisis in Gaza could not be separated from the wider peace process.

“By providing humanitarian aid to Gaza we also aim to foster conditions in which a Palestinian state can be fully realised, a state that is a responsible partner, is at peace with Israel and its Arab neighbours and is accountable to its people,” she said.

All but essential supplies are still subject to Israeli blockades at the crossing points into Gaza. And donors stress that aid should not be channelled through Hamas, which both the US and the EU regard as a terrorist organisation. Some 1,300 Palestinians, of whom 412 were children, were killed during fighting in December and January, with thousands of homes and businesses destroyed.

Israel and Hamas declared unilateral truces on 17 January. Neither are attending the conference.

Donations from the one-day conference at Egypt’s Red Sea resort are expected to exceed the Palestinians request for $2.8bn.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - in her first visit to the Middle East as America’s top diplomat - has brought with her a cheque for $900m, while Saudi Arabia is expected to reaffirm its promised $1bn for Gaza.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told delegates that while all the support was appreciated, “we insist on the pressing need to achieve substantial progress towards a just settlement [of the conflict with Israel]”.

“We are all conscious that the reconstruction and development efforts will remain insufficient, powerless and threatened in the absence of a political settlement,” he said at the conference.

The conference heard similar calls from other speakers.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told delegates: “There is only one viable future: Palestinians and Israelis living side by side in peace and security.”

“If ever there were a time to think freshly, to lead boldly, it is now,” he added.

Tony Blair on the need for aid and a political solution in Gaza Video

The main obstacle to reconstruction of Gaza are the crossings which remain largely closed to all but essential supplies, says the BBC’s Christian Fraser in Sharm el-Sheikh.