UN: It will take decades to rebuild Gaza

If Gaza's economic growth remains the same as it was in the years 2007 to 2022, it will take nearly 70 years before the economy returns to the same level as before the war, according to calculations by the United Nations' main body on trade, investment and development issues (UNCTAD). .

Only in 2092 will Gaza return to 2022 level, and even then Gaza was not a good place to live, says UN expert Rami Al-Azza. Reuters.

If, contrary to the assumption, annual growth reaches 10 percent, Gaza will still return to the same level it was at before Israel imposed a complete blockade on the area in 2006 in 2035, according to a recent report. UNCTAD report.

The main conclusion of the report is that the devastation we are witnessing in Gaza is unparalleled. Al-Azza says rebuilding Gaza will require a lot of effort from the international community.

Here you can read more about the war!

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poverty

The last time Israel launched a major attack on Gaza, in 2014, it caused more than NOK 40 billion in damage, according to UNCTAD calculations.

This time the devastation was much greater, as were the costs of rebuilding homes, schools, hospitals, water and electricity networks and other infrastructure.

Even before the Israeli attack last October, unemployment in Gaza was 45%, and two out of every three residents lived below the poverty line, according to UNCTAD estimates.

Large parts of the Gaza Strip are now in ruins. During the first two months of the war alone, according to US intelligence, 29,000 bombs, rockets and grenades fell on the Palestinian Strip.

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Level with the ground

An analysis of satellite images shows that nearly 70 percent of all homes have now been completely or partially destroyed, according to the United Nations. The Wall Street Journal.

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It is consistent with the analysis United nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) It was carried out based on high-resolution satellite images taken before the war and at the beginning of January.

The pictures show that almost every three buildings in Gaza were completely or partially destroyed in the war, and just over 22,000 of them were razed to the ground.

Worse than Dresden

Professor Robert Pape at the University of Chicago compares the attacks on Gaza to the Allied bombing of German cities during World War II.

The word “Gaza” will go down in history along with the city of Dresden and other famous cities that were bombed, as Babe tells the newspaper.

He points out that in the northern Gaza Strip, where Gaza City is located, satellite images show that 80% of all buildings have been completely or partially destroyed, which is a higher percentage than in the city of Dresden.

according to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Refugees (OCHA) 23 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza have been destroyed, while the remaining 13 hospitals are only partially functioning. 390 schools were completely or partially destroyed, as were three churches and at least 183 mosques.

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Bakeries, stores and factories were bombed, as were the offices of many other businesses Aid organizations And More than 50 media outlets.

Watch the video: The attack on the hospital provokes strong reactions

Exploded with dynamite

The massive destruction is due not only to Israeli bombs, rockets and grenades, but also to controlled explosions using dynamite and mines carried out by Israeli ground forces.

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New York times It has documented at least 33 such explosions of everything from hotels, mosques, universities and UN-run schools to entire neighborhoods with homes and businesses.

Israeli soldiers themselves have shared photos and videos of the explosions on social media, and the newspaper asserts that the 33 verified cases probably constitute only a small fraction of all the buildings destroyed and leveled in this way.

In January, 21 Israeli soldiers were killed as they prepared to blow up two buildings. According to what was reported by Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari Hamas fighters fired a grenade that detonated the explosives the soldiers were about to place, blowing up the buildings while the soldiers were still inside or outside them.

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Defender

The Israeli practice of bombing and bombing civilian buildings has drawn strong international criticism, but Israeli spokespeople confirm this New York times And that everything the Israeli forces do “is based on military necessity and is consistent with international law.”

The spokesman told the newspaper that soldiers “identify and destroy terrorist infrastructure hidden in buildings” in civilian areas, and sometimes entire neighborhoods serve as “combat compounds” for Hamas.

Israel is also being criticized for its desire to remove all buildings near the border fence and erect one The so-called safety zone is 60 kilometers long.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said during a press conference that this does not have the support of the United States and may be a violation of the international law of war, which prohibits the intentional destruction of civilian property. Press conference in December.

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Satellite images show that 80% of all buildings in the northern Gaza Strip, where Gaza City is located, have been completely or partially destroyed, a higher percentage than when the Allies bombed Dresden during World War II. . Photo: Ali Mahmoud/AFP/NTB

A lost generation

According to Palestinian health authorities, nearly 28,000 people have been killed and more than 66,000 injured in Israeli attacks over the past four months.

Among the dead were more than 11,500 children, at least 260 of whom did not celebrate their first birthday, according to a list of names issued by the Palestinian health authorities. Copied from Al Jazeera.

Thousands more are missing, and many are feared to be under the rubble of bombed buildings.

Half of Gaza's 2.3 million people are children, and in addition to being deprived of education, almost all of them are now suffering from profound trauma and in need of mental health care or other psychosocial support, according to the UN report. United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Therefore, the extent to which this generation will be able to contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza in the coming decades is highly uncertain.