Aid organizations warned on Friday that it could take 40 years and cost more than $80 billion to rebuild homes and infrastructure following Israel’s 15-month war in Gaza. The enclave is now a wasteland covered in blackened building shells and piles of debris due to the war. Major roadways have been plowed up. Critical water and electrical infrastructure is in ruins. The majority of hospitals are no longer in operation.
In an operation that started last October, Israeli forces have sealed off and largely depopulated the most heavily damaged part of Gaza, in the north, and the UN estimates that 70 percent of structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, including over 245,000 homes. The full extent of the damage will only be known when the fighting ends on Sunday and inspectors have full access.
The debris must be cleared away before anything can be reconstructed, which is an enormous undertaking in and of itself. Over 50 million tons of debris—roughly 12 times the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza—have been left over in Gaza as a result of the conflict. It would take 15 years to clear with more than 100 vehicles operating full-time.
According to Corey Scher of the Shelter Cluster, an international alliance of assistance organizations headed by the Norwegian Refugee Council, “I can’t think of any parallel, in terms of the severity of damage, for an enclave, a country, or a people.” With over 80% of Gaza’s medical facilities either destroyed or severely damaged, the health sector is the first area to receive relief.
Bringing prefabricated hospitals into the enclave and medically removing more than 12,000 patients—a third of whom are children—will be the first step, the World Health Organization announced on Friday.
Source: Arab News
