A report issued by the United Nations on Thursday indicated that "rebuilding homes in the Gaza Strip could last into the next century if the pace follows the trend of reconstruction in previous conflicts." The assessment, released by the United Nations Development Program, revealed that Gaza needs "approximately 80 years to recover all the completely destroyed housing units."
However, the report mentioned that in the best-case scenario, where construction materials are delivered five times faster than during the previous crisis in 2021, it would still allow for reconstruction by 2040. The UNDP assessment provides a series of forecasts regarding the social and economic impact of the war, based on the duration of the current conflict, anticipating decades of ongoing suffering.
Achim Steiner, the Director of the UNDP, stated, "The unprecedented rates of human casualties, severe destruction, and sharp increases in poverty in such a short period will lead to a serious development crisis that threatens the future of upcoming generations."
The report noted that "if the war continues for nine months, poverty among the population of Gaza is expected to rise from 38.8 percent at the end of 2023 to 60.7 percent, dragging a significant portion of the middle class below the poverty line."
The ongoing Israeli bombardment for nearly seven months has caused billions of dollars in losses and has turned many high concrete buildings in the densely populated area into piles of rubble, with a UN official stating that the destruction has made Gaza "look like the surface of the moon."
Palestinian data show that about 80,000 homes have been destroyed in the conflict, which was sparked by deadly attacks launched by fighters from the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) against southern Israel on October 7. The Israeli strikes have resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians.