Gaza will take up to 20 years to rebuild, study finds

The reconstruction of the Gaza Strip could cost as much as US$6 billion and take two decades to complete, according to an assessment by Shelter Cluster. In its report issued late Friday, the U.N.-aligned group said 17,000 Gaza housing units were destroyed or severely damaged during this summer’s war and 5,000 units still need work after damage sustained in the previous military campaigns. In addition, it says, Gaza has a housing deficit of 75,000 units. Shelter Cluster said its 20-year assessment is based on the capacity of the main Israel-Gaza cargo crossing to handle 100 trucks of construction materials daily.

It was possible for us to avoid all of that: 2,000 martyrs, 10,000 injured, 50,000 houses (destroyed).

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas

Efforts to rebuild Gaza will be hindered by a blockade imposed by Egypt and Israel since the Islamic militant group Hamas seized power in 2007. Israel has severely restricted the import of concrete and other building materials into Gaza, fearing that militants will use them to build rockets and reinforce cross-border attack tunnels. Mindful of Israel’s concerns, Britain, France and Germany have proposed the creation of an international mechanism to monitor goods going into Gaza.

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