CAIRO, Oct 12 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi addressed the Israeli government and people during the Gaza reconstruction conference on Sunday, saying "it's time to end the struggle."

Egypt and Norway are co-hosting the conference, where attendees from all over the world are expected to announce their contributions to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. The strip was largely destroyed during the latest Israeli offensive on it, which started on July 8 and lasted for 50 days.

Sisi described the conference as an "important" and "indispensible" step. 

He said that the solution to the Palestinian case is twofold; permanent pacification and allowing the national authorities to exercise power within the Gaza strip.

Thirty foreign ministers, 50 delegations, and 20 representatives of regional and international institutions, such as the United Nations, the IMF, and the World Bank, were scheduled to attend the conference.

The cost of rebuilding 17,000 homes destroyed by Israeli bombardment is estimated at 2.5 billion dollars, the Palestinian Authority said earlier, adding that the energy sector will require 250 million dollars after the only power plant in Gaza was destroyed by Israeli missiles.

A long-term truce was announced by Egypt and welcomed by Israel and the Palestinians on August 26, ending a 50 day war that has left 2139 Palestinians killed and over 11,100 injured. On the Israeli side sixty-four soldiers and six civilians were killed.