AMMAN: A UN agency on Thursday said that rebuilding of war-hit Gaza will cost an estimated $30 billion to $40 billion and require a massive effort unseen since World War II.
UN assistant secretary-general Abdallah al-Dardari said according to the United Nations Development Programme’s initial estimates the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip could cost $30 billion and could reach up to $40 billion.
Dardari at a press conference in Amman said the scale of the destruction is massive and unprecedented. He said this is a mission that the international community has not dealt with since World War II.
He added that Gaza’s reconstruction could take decades, and the Palestinian people do not have time to wait.
He said it is important that we act quickly to relocate people to decent housing and resume their lives to normalcy.
The UN official said this is their top priority, and it must be achieved within the first three years after the ending of hostilities.
He believed the total rubble from explosions and bombardment was 37 million tonnes.
“We are talking about a colossal figure, and this figure is increasing every day,” he said. According to the latest data, the rubble is already approaching 40 million tonnes.
The UN official also said 72 percent of all residential buildings in Gaza have been completely or partially destroyed.
He was of the view the reconstruction activity must be planned carefully and efficiently as nobody knows how the war will end and what type of post-war systems will be established in the Gaza Strip.
