UN: Rebuilding Bombed Homes in Gaza May Take 80 Years

May 3, 2024

A UN report released Thursday warned that the reconstruction efforts of people’s houses bombed by the Israeli army in Gaza may take 80 years.

Seven months of Israeli genocidal war have resulted in the demolition of 8,000 houses, according to Palestinian data, with estimated infrastructure losses amount 3.3$ billions in Gaza.

Many of the densely populated concrete buildings were flattened to rubble, with a UN official referring to a “moonscape” of destruction.

The UN Development Programme said in a report that Gaza needs “approximately 80 years to restore all the fully destroyed housing units.” However, the reconstruction could be dine in 2040 if construction materials are delivered five times as fast as in the last crisis in 2021.

The UNDP assessment makes a series of projections on the war’s socioeconomic impact based on the duration of the current war, projecting decades of ongoing suffering.

“Unprecedented levels of human losses, capital destruction, and the steep rise in poverty in such a short period of time will precipitate a serious development crisis that jeopardises the future of generations to come,” said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner in a statement.

Poverty is set to soar from 38.8% of Gaza’s population to 60.7% if the war lasts nine months, dragging a large portion of the middle class below the poverty line.

In April 26th, Israel’s military assault on Gaza has reduced much of the narrow, coastal territory of 2.3 million people to a wasteland with most civilians homeless, hungry and at risk of disease.

Senior officer at the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), Pehr Lodhammar, told a briefing in Geneva that the war had left an estimated 37 million tonnes of debris in the widely urbanised and densely populated enclave.

UN estimates rebuilding Gaza will cost $30 bn to $40 bn

By

 AFP

A UN agency said Thursday rebuilding war-wracked Gaza will cost an estimated $30 billion to $40 billion and require an effort on a scale unseen since World War II.

“The United Nations Development Programme’s initial estimates for the reconstruction of… the Gaza Strip surpass $30 billion and could reach up to $40 billion,” said UN assistant secretary-general Abdallah al-Dardari.

“The scale of the destruction is huge and unprecedented… This is a mission that the global community has not dealt with since World War II,” Dardari told a press conference in the Jordanian capital Amman.

He added that if Gaza’s reconstruction were to be carried out through the normal process, “it could take decades, and the Palestinian people do not have the luxury of waiting for decades”.

“It is therefore important that we act quickly to re-house people in decent housing and restore their lives to normal — economically, socially, in terms of health and education”.

“This is our top priority, and it must be achieved within the first three years following the cessation of hostilities.” 

He estimated the total rubble from bombardment and explosions at 37 million tonnes.

“We are talking about a colossal figure, and this figure is increasing every day,” he said. “The latest data indicates that it is already approaching 40 million tonnes.”

The UN official also said “72 percent of all residential buildings have been completely or partially destroyed”.

“Reconstruction must be planned carefully, efficiently and with extreme flexibility because we do not know how the war will end” and what type of post-war governance will be established in the Gaza Strip.