The United Nations has predicted it will take "until 2040 and probably longer" to rebuild the homes in Gaza that have been destroyed in the Israel-Hamas war.
Using data from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the report estimated it would take 16 years to rebuild the homes destroyed in Gaza as Israel's military action in Palestine continues, following the 7 October 2023 assault on Israel by Hamas militants.
"Even under optimistic scenarios for the pace of physical reconstruction, the scale of destruction in Gaza has been such that, simply from the narrow perspective of moving in building materials, it would still take until 2040 and probably longer to restore the housing units destroyed since the start of the war," said the researchers, reported the Guardian. The report was created by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) to investigate the expected socio-economic impact of the conflict in Gaza.
The Al-Masry Tower in Rafah is one of the many residential buildings that have been destroyed
The report sets 2040 as the most optimistic scenario ? basing the date on if the war were to end immediately, however, this estimation only accounts for destroyed homes and does not factor in the repair of all damaged buildings.
It made clear that rebuilding and repairing the damage to Gaza's infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, will take decades.
The report a...