Following 15 months of Israeli attacks, a joint report by the World Bank, United Nations and European Union has found that reconstructing Gaza will take around $53 billion, with the largest portion needed to rebuild people’s homes.
The Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment released this week sets out damages wrought on the blockaded territory between October 2023 and October 2024, and estimates what will be needed for its reconstruction.
Housing was found to be the hardest hit sector, with more than 292,000 homes either destroyed or damaged as Israel has been accused of indiscriminately targetting civilian infrastructure.
Homes account for 53 per cent of total damages in Gaza and will require the most funds to rebuild – around $15.2 billion. Businesses and industrial sites were the next worst hit, accounting for 20 per cent of damages, with “lifeline infrastructure” close behind at 15 per cent.
The report also outlines a roadmap for recovery efforts and how they should be staggered, underlining that this must be “a Palestinian-led process that reconnects Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank”.
Future of Gaza is uncertain
The news comes after US president Donald Trump proposed an Israel-backed plan to take over the Gaza Strip – where more than 47,000 people including 13,000 children have been killed by Israeli strikes over the last 15 months – to turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
Under Trump’s plan, the two million Palestinians remaining in Gaza would be permanently displaced to neighbouring Jordan and Egypt, which human rights groups have warned would amount to a war crime.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian government announced this week that it is “actively developing” a counter plan that would see the establishment of “secure areas” in Gaza for Palestinians to live while up to 47 million tons of rubble and debris is removed and the strip rebuilt.
The World Bank report also cautions that “none of the conditions for large-scale recovery and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip are present” at the moment, due to the lack of clarity about Gaza’s future and Israel’s continuing restrictions on the entry of people and goods into the blockaded territory.
Focus on permanent housing over transitional shelters
In the short term, the report argues the focus should be on restoring social services and basic utilities, clearing the rubble and finding permanent homes for Gaza’s 1.9 million internally displaced people in their original communities.
The emphasis over the next three years should be on repairing partially damaged housing, providing cash assistance and constructing additional living spaces in those homes that have remained standing.
Prefabricated transitional shelters could be constructed for the 100,000 most vulnerable families – those who are landless and living in temporary or shanty houses – as close to their original communities as possible.
“As most displaced Palestinians in Gaza report that they intend to return to their original communities when conditions allow, any transitional shelters will need to include a clear timeline for returns,” the report said.
Palestinian architects have been lobbying for Palestinian-led reconstruction efforts since the most recent escalation of the Israel Gaza conflict on 7 October 2023 when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people.
“We think the reconstruction has to take place not only with major involvement and led by Palestinians but actually led by the families of Gazans who have lost their homes, lost their cities, lost their streets and their neighbourhoods,” they told Dezeen.
The top image is courtesy of Shutterstock.
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