The reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, after the devastation of the war between Israel and Hamas, will cost between 30 and 40 billion dollars and will require an effort on a scale not seen since the Second World War, a US agency said on Thursday. United Nations.
Abdullah Al-Dardari, UN Assistant Secretary-General, said: “The United Nations Development Program's initial estimates for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip exceed $30 billion and could reach $40 billion. »
Al-Dardari, who previously served as deputy prime minister under Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, told a news conference in New York: "The scale of the destruction is enormous and unprecedented... It is a task that the international community has not yet accomplished. treated since the Second World War. The Jordanian capital, Amman.
The reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, after the devastation of the war between Israel and Hamas, will cost between 30 and 40 billion dollars and will require an effort on a scale not seen since the Second World War, a US agency said on Thursday. United Nations.
Abdullah Al-Dardari, UN Assistant Secretary-General, said: “The United Nations Development Program's initial estimates for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip exceed $30 billion and could reach $40 billion. »
Al-Dardari, who previously served as deputy prime minister under Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, told a news conference in New York: "The scale of the destruction is enormous and unprecedented... It is a task that the international community has not yet accomplished. treated since the Second World War. The Jordanian capital, Amman.
He added that if Gaza's reconstruction was carried out through the normal process, "it could take decades, and the Palestinian people do not have the luxury of waiting decades."
“It is therefore important that we act quickly to relocate people to decent housing and allow them to return to normal life – economically and socially, in terms of health and education,” Al-Dardari said. “This is our top priority and must be achieved within three years of the cessation of hostilities. »
The total debris resulting from the bombings and explosions was estimated at around 37 million tons.
“We are talking about a huge number, and that number is growing every day,” he said. “The latest data suggests that this figure is already around 40 million tonnes. »
The UN official also said that "72% 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” or what type of governance will be put in place after the war in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza's economy contracts
The war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist movement has also seriously affected the Palestinian economy. The Palestinian economy, which includes the West Bank and Gaza Strip, has shrunk by 26.9 percent since the outbreak of war on October 7, according to an assessment released Thursday by the United Nations Development Program.
The estimates, released in cooperation with the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, also reveal that the poverty rate in Gaza is expected to continue to rise to 58.4 percent.
The war broke out on October 7 with a Hamas attack in southern Israel, in which 3,000 terrorists killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 253 in Gaza.
The subsequent Israeli offensive, in which it vowed to destroy Hamas, killed more than 34,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. This figure cannot be independently verified and makes no difference between Palestinian civilians and fighters. Israel claims to have killed more than 13,000 terrorists since the start of the war and around 1,000 on Israeli territory as of October 7.
Achim Steiner, administrator of the United Nations Development Program, said in a statement: “Each additional day that this war continues has a heavy and growing cost for the people of Gaza and all Palestinians. »
