Estimated Reconstruction Cost of Gaza Reaches $80 Billion

Gaza, MINA – Bloomberg Network in August 2024 quoted experts who assessed that the cost of reconstructing the Gaza Strip and restoring the devastated labor market could exceed $80 billion, Palinfo reported.

In a previous report, the World Bank and the United Nations estimated the damage to vital infrastructure in Gaza between October 2023 and January 2024 at approximately $18.5 billion.

Last October, the UN indicated that the removal of 42 million tons of aggregate left by the Israeli occupation’s aggression might take years and cost $1.2 billion.

In April 2024, the UN stated that debris removal could take 14 years, adding that the Palestinian Ministry of Health estimated in May that around 10,000 bodies were buried under the rubble.

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A UN report published in 2024 indicated that the reconstruction of destroyed homes in the Gaza Strip could continue until at least 2040 and might take several decades.

According to satellite data from the UN in December, about 69% of buildings in Gaza, more than 170,000 buildings, were either destroyed or leveled.

According to UN estimates, these statistics include a total of 245,123 individual apartments, while the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) stated that more than 1.8 million people in the Gaza Strip are currently in need of emergency shelter.

Satellite images analyzed by the UN show that more than half of Gaza’s agricultural land has been damaged due to the war, while the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN reported last year that 15,000 livestock, more than 95% of the total livestock, and about half of the sheep were killed or died since the fighting began.

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As for institutions, Palestinian data shows that the war caused the destruction of more than 200 government institutions, 136 schools, 823 mosques, and three churches. []

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)

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