If the war in Gaza stopped today, it would still take until 2040 to rebuild all the homes destroyed in Israel’s bombardment and ground offensives, according to UN estimates published on Thursday.
United Nations Development Programme said rebuilding war-wracked Gaza will cost an estimated $30bn to $40bn and require an effort on a scale the world has not seen since World War II.
At least 370,000 housing units in Gaza have been damaged, including 79,000 destroyed completely, according to a new report by the UNDP and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia.
After previous wars in Gaza, housing was rebuilt at a rate of 992 units per year. Even if Israel allows a five-fold increase of construction material to enter Gaza, it would take until 2040 to rebuild the destroyed houses, without repairing the damaged ones, the report said.
“The United Nations Development Programme’s initial estimates for the reconstruction of … the Gaza Strip surpasses $30bn and could reach up to $40bn,” said Abdallah al-Dardari, UN assistant secretary-general.
“Every additional day that this war continues is exacting huge and compounding costs to Gazans and all Palestinians,” said UN Development Programme Administrator Achim Steiner.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has tracked 443 attacks on Gaza’s healthcare facilities or medical workers, which have killed 723 people and injured 924 since the start of the war.
The death toll in the besieged enclave rose to 34,596, without counting nearly 10,000 people missing or buried under rubble. 77,816 Palestinians were wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, its Health Ministry said on Thursday.
