More than $50bn needed to rebuild Gaza after Israel's war on enclave
Reconstruction efforts in Gaza will require more than $50bn after 15 months of Israel's devastating war, according to a new assessment by the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank.
The figures come as Arab countries continue to scramble to find a viable recovery plan as an alternative to the mass displacement of the Palestinian enclave's 2 million residents proposed by United States President Donald Trump.
The Gaza & West Bank Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (IRDNA), published on Tuesday, calculated that Israel's war on Gaza caused $49bn in destruction between October 8, 2023 and October 8, 2024.
Researchers concluded that $53.2bn is now needed for the recovery and reconstruction of the Palestinian territory over the next 10 years, with about $20bn of the full amount required in the first three years alone.
'Funding will require a broad coalition of donors, diverse financing instruments, private sector resources, and significant improvements in the delivery of reconstruction materials to Gaza in the post-conflict period,' the joint report states.
More than half the total estimated cost of rebuilding, or $29.9bn, is needed for damaged buildings and other key infrastructure, while funds to replenish Gaza's destroyed residential housing stock form the bulk of that figure – $15.2bn.
Housing suffered the most during Israel's 15-month-long attack on the territory, with the report writers estimating that it accounted for 53 percent of the total destruction wrought by Israeli forces in Gaza, amounting to more than 292,000 homes destroyed or damaged.
Another $19.1bn is required to make up for social and economic losses resulting from severe damage to Gaza's health, education, commerce and industry sectors, the report estimates.
The researchers also state that 95 percent of Gaza's hospitals are now non-functional, while the local economy has contracted by 83 percent.
The IRDNA is a follow-up to the Interim Damage Assessment (IDA) published by the UN, EU and World Bank in April 2024, which estimated about $18.5bn in damages after just four months of Israel's war.
Years of clearing unexploded ordnance and removing millions of tonnes of rubble also lie ahead as part of the reconstruction efforts.
An uncertain future
The report's findings come amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, with the Israeli military accused of carrying out repeated violations of the truce since it came into effect on January 19.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also failed to rule out a return to war in the coastal enclave if Hamas does not continue to return all the captives it holds there.
The report's authors therefore cautioned that conditions are not yet in place for large-scale recovery and reconstruction work to begin given the lack of clarity over Gaza's future, not least how it will be governed.
'The speed, scale, and scope of recovery will be shaped by these conditions,' the report states.
Since returning to the White House in late January, Trump has said he would 'take over' and 'own' Gaza, which involves emptying the Strip of its inhabitants and transforming the territory into what Trump described as the 'Riviera of the Middle East'.
As part of this plan, Trump has said he would permanently displace 2 million Palestinian people. He has pressured both Jordan and Egypt to take in those who are forced out of Gaza.
Netanyahu has expressed strong support for Trump's proposal, and his government announced on Monday that it had formed a special directorate for the 'voluntary departure' of Palestinians from the coastal enclave.
Egypt is leading the way on an alternative Arab-led reconstruction plan that would keep Gaza's population in their homeland.
On Monday, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty said Cairo is 'actively developing a comprehensive, multi-phase plan for Gaza's early recovery and reconstruction'.
Crucially, Cairo says the plan would not require Gaza's population to be displaced. Instead, 'secure areas' would be established where Palestinians can live, while dozens of Egyptian and international construction firms remove and rehabilitate the Strip's war-torn infrastructure.
That plan may see up to $20bn provided by Arab and Gulf states towards reconstruction efforts, the Reuters news agency reported on Tuesday, citing two anonymous Egyptian security sources with knowledge of the matter.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will travel to the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, on Thursday to discuss the plan before an Arab summit will be held in Cairo on March 4 to potentially finalise the proposal, Reuters said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel was waiting to evaluate Egypt's plan.
But he reiterated Israel's long-held stance that any plan in which Hamas continued to have a political or military presence in Gaza would not be acceptable.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Qatar Tribune
44 minutes ago
- Qatar Tribune
Amir exchanges Eid Al Adha greetings with leaders of Arab, Islamic countries
DOHA: His Highness the Amir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has exchanged cables of greetings on the occasion of blessed Eid Al Adha with his brothers, their Majesties, Excellencies, and Highnesses, the leaders of sisterly Arab and Islamic countries. HH the Amir also received cables of greetings on this occasion from a number of leaders of friendly countries.
Al Jazeera
3 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
World reacts to Trump's travel ban, hits several nations mired in conflict
Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning citizens from 12 countries from entering the country in a move he said was to protect the US from 'foreign terrorists', mirroring a contentious policy from his first term as United States president. As part of Trump's intensified crackdown on immigration, a cornerstone of his previous time in the White House and on the campaign trail, he announced on Wednesday that nationals from 12 countries – Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen – will be banned. Seven countries will also be subject to partial restrictions, which will mean they will no longer be able to apply for immigrant or non-immigrant temporary visas. However, some temporary work visas will still be allowed. Trump cited an attack in Boulder, Colorado, where a man threw a petrol bomb into a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators, as proof of the need for immigration curbs. 'The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted,' Trump said in a video message from the Oval Office posted on X. 'We don't want them,' he added. This latest travel ban follows Trump's executive order during his first term, in which he banned nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries, also known as the 'Muslim ban,' in 2017. Seven of the countries on the new list of those banned also have Muslim-majority populations and several are beset by ongoing conflicts. Despite the new suspensions, the ban will not apply to existing visa holders, foreign diplomats, athletes and their teams, among other exemptions. The ban is expected to come into effect on June 9 at 12:01 am EDT (04:01 GMT). Here's how the world has reacted to the ban. The AU, which has seven of the 12 nations on the travel ban list, said the ban would harm 'people-to-people ties, educational exchange, commercial engagement, and broader diplomatic relations' that were built with the US over past decades. 'The African Union Commission respectfully calls upon the US administration to consider adopting a more consultative approach and to engage in constructive dialogue with the countries concerned,' the bloc said in a statement. President of Oxfam America, Abby Maxman, said the decision was not about 'national security'. 'It is about sowing division and vilifying communities that are seeking safety and opportunity in the United States,' Maxman said. The Somali ambassador to the US, Dahir Hassan Abdi, said in a statement that Mogadishu 'values its longstanding relationship with the United States'. '[Somalia] stands ready to engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised,' Abdi said. Interior minister Diosdado Cabello described the ban as a 'great risk for anyone, not just Venezuelans'. 'They persecute our countrymen, our people, for no reason,' he said. Venezuelan migrants in the US have been targeted by the Trump administration for deportation to El Salvador, many on unproven allegations of being gang members.
Al Jazeera
6 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Which countries are on Trump's travel ban list, and who will be affected?
United States President Donald Trump signed a presidential proclamation on Wednesday banning citizens of 12 countries from entering the US. Heightened restrictions on entering the US have been put in place for nationals of seven more countries. The travel ban is Trump's latest move in the immigration crackdown that he promised on the campaign trail before last year's presidential election. Trump said the measures would help to 'protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors'. Here is what we know about the travel ban so far: The 12 countries whose nationals are fully restricted from travelling to the US under Trump's travel ban are:The seven countries subject to partial restrictions are: Citizens from the 12 countries subject to a full ban on travel to the US will face a complete suspension of immigrant and non-immigrant visas. Citizens from the seven countries which have been placed under partial restrictions will no longer be able to apply for immigrant visas or non-immigrant temporary visas covering permanent immigration, student visas and tourism visas including B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, F, M and J. They will still be able to apply for some temporary visas, however. Unlike an executive order, a presidential proclamation is not legally binding but generally signals a policy shift. The new rules apply only to people outside the US at the time of the proclamation and who did not yet hold a valid visa at the time of the proclamation. Yes. The new suspension and restrictions will not apply to: A total of 363,549 people from the 19 listed countries entered the US in the fiscal year 2022 – the most recent year on record for arrivals – according to data from the Department of Homeland Security. Some 250,234 of these people were from Venezuela, which is subject to partial restrictions only. A further 66,563 of these people were from Haiti, which now faces a complete travel cited security threats and 'foreign terrorists' as grounds for the ban. In a video posted on Wednesday on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump said the recent attack in Boulder, Colorado 'has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas'. On June 1, police arrested a man who threw incendiary devices towards a group of people attending a rally for the release of captives taken from Israel on October 7, 2023 and held in Gaza. The FBI said it was investigating the incident as 'an act of terror'. Suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman was charged with a federal hate crime, as well as an array of state charges, according to an affidavit by the US Department of Justice. Soliman is an Egyptian national who has also lived in Kuwait. Neither of these countries is on Trump's list of banned countries. In a Truth Social post, Trump blamed '[former US President Joe] Biden's ridiculous Open Border Policy' for allowing Soliman into the country. Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, said the suspect in the Boulder incident had overstayed a tourist visa, without naming Soliman. A fact sheet published by the White House stated a specific justification for the exclusion of each country on the new travel ban list. These justifications included that large numbers of citizens had overstayed their visas, that the countries had a poor record of cooperating with the US to receive their citizens back if they had overstayed in the US, or that the countries were affected by war. According to the most recent figures from the US Department of Homeland Security, nationals of Chad had the highest overstay rate, at 49.5 percent of those arriving in the US on a visa. Others with high overstay rates were Equatorial Guinea (22 percent), Eritrea (20 percent) and Yemen (19.8 percent). On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order, calling on his state department to identify countries 'for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries'. He referred to this order in his video announcement of the travel ban. The travel ban will take effect on June 9 at 12:01am EDT (04:01 GMT). Yes, Trump enacted a travel ban – dubbed the 'Muslim ban' as all but one of the countries on the list at that time were Muslim-majority – during his first term in 2017. In his Wednesday Truth Social video, Trump said: 'In my first term, my powerful travel restrictions were one of our most successful policies and they were a key part of preventing major foreign terror attacks on American soil.' That earlier ban went through several revisions. It was upheld by the US Supreme Court in 2018. In 2021, Biden repealed this ban, calling it 'a stain on our national conscience'. Yes. In his Truth Social video announcement, Trump said 'the list is subject to revision based on whether material improvements are made. 'Likewise, new countries can be added as threats emerge around the world.' Dahir Hassan Abdi, the Somali ambassador to the US, said in a statement that Somalia is ready to work with the US. 'Somalia values its longstanding relationship with the United States and stands ready to engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised,' he said. Trump's proclamation described Somalia as 'a terrorist safe haven' and stated: 'Somalia lacks a competent or cooperative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents and it does not have appropriate screening and vetting measures.' Diosdado Cabello, Venezuelan interior minister and close aide of President Nicolas Maduro, said: 'The truth is being in the United States is a big risk for anybody, not just for Venezuelans … They persecute our countrymen, our people for no reason.' Trump's proclamation stated: 'Venezuela has historically refused to accept back its removable nationals.'
