EU rallies $1 billion in pledges for Gaza's recovery

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has coordinated efforts to raise 900 million euros ($1 billion) in pledges of aid for Gaza's rebuilding following two years of Israeli bombardment that left much of the Palestinian enclave in ruins, a senior EU official said Monday.

How much of the money will be delivered, and when reconstruction of Gaza can begin, is unclear. The ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas militant group that took effect in October is effectively stalled.

European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica announced the fund after a meeting in Brussels of the Palestine Donors Group, which includes EU and Middle East nations along with international organizations and financial institutions.

“The ceasefire in Gaza remains fragile, and the situation on the ground for civilians is not getting better," Šuica said. She said the money will move through “trusted partners" but didn't give details.

Few places in the Palestinian territory of over 2 million people have been left unscathed, and the United Nations, World Bank and EU estimate that reconstruction will cost $70 billion.

The U.N. has said Gaza has more than 60 million tons of rubble, enough to fill nearly 3,000 container ships. It will take over seven years to clear, with additional time for demining.

The meeting also brought together Nickolay Mladenov, the head of the Board of Peace set up by U.S. President Donald Trump to lead Gaza's reconstruction; Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner; Ali Shaath, the head of the new Palestinian committee meant to administer Gaza’s daily affairs but still unable to enter; and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa.

Mladenov has made clear that the next steps in implementing the ceasefire are stalled over the difficult issue of disarming Hamas militants in Gaza.

“We are investing not only in the Palestinian future but also in the regional stability, shared security and just and lasting peace for everyone together,” Mustafa said, calling for “a resilient, sovereign, contiguous and viable Palestinian state" — something Israel's current government has opposed.

The Palestinian Authority seeks a role in Gaza’s reconstruction, but the U.S. 20-point plan only makes a reference to the possibility of a future Palestinian state.

Separately, top diplomats from the 27-nation EU debated how to respond to increased Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank.

The bloc's executive, the European Commission, has tabled options including cutting off trade with Israeli settlements in the territory.

Nations like Ireland and Spain are calling for forceful action. The Czech Republic, Germany and others alongside the commission are more cautious, seeking to apply incremental pressure. Some nations have signaled they would veto sanctions.

Do sanctions “have a meaningful impact or not? What role could they play as a political message, and would this be escalatory in a wrong direction?” said Bulgarian Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova-Chamova.

The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said the European Council's legal service had found that severing trade ties with Israeli settlements in the West Bank — not technically sanctions — would require a majority vote and not total unanimity from bloc members.

Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel said a clear majority in the EU agrees on severing commercial ties with the settlements. He dismissed arguments that tough action would boost Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chances in an election in October: “I hope that now it’s time for decisions.”

European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica, right, speaks with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa after participating in a signature ceremony during a Palestinian Donors Group meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Marius Burgelman)

European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica, front center right, and Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, front center left, pose for a group photo with other officials at a Palestinian Donors Group meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Marius Burgelman)

The Palestinian and EU flags flap in the wind outside EU headquarters prior to a Palestinian Donors Conference in Brussels, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Marius Burgelman)

European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica, right, and Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa participate in a round table meeting of the Palestinian Donor Group at EU headquarters in Brussels, Monday, July 13, 2026. (John Thys, Pool Photo via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans returned to Washington on Monday with an uncertain agenda after the sudden death of prominent Republican Lindsey Graham, a committee chairman and key player who served as a crucial ally of President Donald Trump.

Graham, 71, died Saturday evening after a tear in his aorta, according to a statement from his office Sunday. The shocking news came as another prominent Republican senator, former Republican leader Mitch McConnell, has been hospitalized for almost a month. McConnell broke a weekslong silence about his health Sunday, saying he was still recovering after suffering from pneumonia and falling in his home.

The continued absence of McConnell, R-Ky., and the surprise death of the South Carolina senator have shaken Republicans who were already at odds with Trump and stalled on several priorities as they return from a two-week recess. And the reduced Republican numbers in the 53-47 Senate are sure to add confusion to what was already expected to be a chaotic and difficult few months before the November midterm elections.

Despite consolidated power in Washington, Republicans have been unable to move much of their legislation forward as the Senate, House and White House have disagreed on legislative priorities and as Trump has criticized Senate Republicans, in particular, for not passing his legislation to require proof of citizenship for voters. Graham, who was one of Trump’s closest friends in the Senate, often served as a pivotal intermediary.

“He was a great — like a gauge, a temperature gauge of the Senate,” Trump said of Graham on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, noting he had talked to Graham on Saturday. “He could go in and get something approved. He would just get people on his side.”

As the Senate convened Monday, Graham's desk was draped in black cloth and held a vase of white roses, as is customary when a senator dies in office. In his opening remarks, Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said “it's difficult to count the ways in which Lindsey's friendship made this job richer and its burdens lighter.”

Graham "was as loyal as they come and a trusted adviser,” Thune said.

The Senate left town two weeks ago after a rough few weeks for Republicans. Trump blocked senators from confirming one of his own nominees, asked them to fund parts of his White House ballroom project despite opposition and forced them to defend the Iran war even as they questioned the strategy and endgame.

He also refused to sign a bipartisan, election year housing bill that had passed overwhelmingly in both chambers, arguing that they should pass his bill to require proof of citizenship, the SAVE America Act, instead. The housing bill became law Friday at midnight after he declined to sign it but did not veto it.

The alliance between Trump and Senate Republicans has also been weakened after the president endorsed the opponents of two Republican senators who had been reliable votes, John Cornyn of Texas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. Cassidy challenged Trump directly on the Iran war in a Capitol meeting between Trump and Republicans just before they left town.

Republicans return to a number of important agenda items, including the confirmation of Trump’s pick for attorney general, Todd Blanche, and the confirmation of Jay Clayton, whom Trump selected to be director of national intelligence and later temporarily blocked. Both will testify in confirmation hearings this week.

Senate Republicans also must find a way to navigate Democratic opposition and Trump’s continued ire to keep the government open and prevent a government shutdown when the current fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. Graham was a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, as is McConnell.

Graham also sat on the Judiciary Committee that will consider Blanche’s nomination and is the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, which has been under pressure from House Republicans and Trump to move a budget package with increased defense spending for Iran.

There is also bipartisan legislation to move forward on a package of Russia sanctions that Graham and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut had announced on Friday after an agreement with the Trump administration.

Blumenthal told The Associated Press on Sunday that Graham was “absolutely focused on this moment” as they announced the sanctions package after months of negotiations. He said he hopes Graham’s memory will inspire the Senate to move forward.

“We’ve really reached this moment where all of the stars are aligned and we will be lacking Lindsey’s spectacular advocacy,” Blumenthal said.

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also urged passage of the sanctions bill as they spoke about Graham on the Senate floor Monday.

Senate leaders have not announced how they will honor Graham, who died after a tear in the inner wall of the aorta, called an aortic dissection, related to hardening of Graham’s arteries, according to his office. An official cause of death will be disclosed after toxicological and microscopic testing, his office said.

Graham, a prominent South Carolina Republican and former Air Force lawyer who served in Congress for more than three decades, had just returned from a trip to Ukraine. Thune said it was Graham's 10th trip to the country, and he “died with his boots on.”

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Monday appointed Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, as his temporary replacement in the Senate. She will serve for the remainder of his term, which ends in January.

A special election will be held next month to pick a new Republican nominee in the general election for Graham’s seat. He had been seeking a fifth term this year.

Possible candidates include three Republicans who fell short for the party’s nomination for governor this year — Rep. Nancy Mace, Rep. Ralph Norman and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette. Also in the mix is Rep. Russell Fry, who was elected to the House in 2022.

McConnell’s Sunday announcement revealed for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalization, breaking the silence about his condition after weeks of mounting speculation about his health.

The Kentucky Republican, who is retiring in January, said in a statement that he was “briefly unconscious” around the time he was first taken to the hospital in June and has undergone a battery of tests to try to determine what led to his fall. He said he was also treated for mild pneumonia and has been moved to a rehabilitation facility.

“My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion. I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages,” McConnell said, adding that he is now “regaining my strength.”

He said he cannot return to the Senate “quite yet.”

Notes and flowers outside the office of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, July 13, 2026, after the sudden death of Graham. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

FILE - Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., arrives for a hearing at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., left, listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a reception for the Clemson Tigers in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Jan. 14, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

FILE - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., listens during a Capitol Hill news conference in Washington, March 6, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)