2024-05-04 22:25:31
The United Nations announced Thursday that it estimates the cost of rebuilding the Gaza Strip at between 30 and 40 billion dollars as a result of the massive and unprecedented scale of destruction after seven months of war between Israel and Hamas.
The Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Director of the Regional Office for Arab States at the United Nations Development Programme, Abdullah Al-Dardari, said in a press conference in Amman that reconstruction in the Gaza Strip “is a very expensive issue that will take a long time,” noting that its cost “reaches about 18 billion dollars according to “The destruction that the satellites captured, but this is not the final value on Earth.”
He added, “The United Nations Development Programme’s initial estimates for rebuilding all that was destroyed in Gaza exceed $30 billion and even reach $40 billion.” He continued, “It is a task that the international community has not dealt with since World War II.”
He stated that “financing (reconstruction) was discussed with Arab countries and there are very positive signs so far,” without giving further details.
He pointed out that relying on “traditional frameworks” for rebuilding means that “it may take decades, and the Palestinian people do not have the luxury of decades.” Therefore, it is important that we quickly house people in decent housing and restore their normal economic, social, health and educational lives (…) during the first three years after the ceasefire.”
The ongoing negotiations so far, through Arab and American mediation, have not led to an agreement on a truce or ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where 34,596 people were killed in Israeli bombing accompanied by ground operations, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
The war broke out on October 7 after an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,170 people, according to an Agence France-Presse count based on official Israeli figures.
Al-Dardari reiterated that the total rubble that has accumulated so far in Gaza amounts to “37 million tons,” considering that this number is “enormous and rising daily, and the latest data indicate that it is almost forty million tons.”
He continued, “72% of residential buildings were completely or partially destroyed,” while “human development in Gaza, with all its components, including health, education, economy, and infrastructure, has declined for 40 years.” Forty years of efforts and investments have been in vain.”
He considered that “the most dangerous stage is when the shooting stops and we are not ready.” Therefore, we must be prepared and ready to provide decent temporary housing, remove the rubble, and deal with thousands of bodies under this rubble.”
In addition to the reconstruction process, the UN official spoke about the psychological effects of the war on the civilian population, saying, “Our estimates of the number of people in need of psychological care are 400,000 people, and this estimate is at a minimum.”
Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Mounir Thabet, said at the conference that “the destruction is enormous and frightening,” adding that “the educational and health sectors were almost completely destroyed.”
He pointed out that the economy in the Gaza Strip lost “81% of its size” in the last quarter of 2023.
He continued, “The situation is very difficult and the extent of the human and infrastructure destruction is unprecedented and requires unprecedented efforts from us.”
Last updated: May 3, 2024 – 16:27
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2024-05-04 22:25:31