Gaza residents question when they can start rebuilding shattered homes
Blockade remains in place despite ceasefire deal allowing building materials into shattered strip
With much of Gaza in ruins, reconstruction cannot come soon enough for thousands of homeless like Mohammed al-Najjar, a once-proud house owner whose family now huddles in a portable cabin.
A new UN-brokered deal has set the stage for private companies to help rebuild after a seven-week conflict that left 100,000 people with nowhere to live.
Israel's eight-year blockade of Gaza has meant that few building materials have flowed into the Palestinian territory, making reconstruction a near-impossible task.
"This so-called temporary arrangement is beginning to look permanent," 60-year-old Najjar sighed.
"I'm scared that the blockade will never be lifted, and the Israelis won't let any construction material in," he said after fighting which killed more than 2,140 Palestinians and 73 on the Israeli side.
His new abode in Khuzaa near the southern city of Khan Yunis is essentially just a Portakabin with two rooms, a bathroom and a kitchenette where he lives with at least six relatives.
Although it is a small space, they are luckier than many who now live in cramped UN schools and shelters.
In total, an estimated 5 per cent of the territory's entire housing stock was left uninhabitable, according to UN figures.
A donation of 100 mobile homes by the Emirati charity Human Appeal International has helped some families move out of the schools to make way for a resumption of lessons.
Israel's blockade on Gaza, in place since 2006, includes a ban on most construction materials including steel, cement and concrete, which could be used to build fortifications or tunnels.
"If the restrictions on [importing] building materials do not change, we will need 10 years to rebuild Gaza," said Adnan Abu Hasna, a spokesman for the UN's Palestinian refugee agency.
Under the ceasefire terms, Israel agreed to ease import restrictions on building materials, but so far there has been little sign of change, Palestinian officials say.
Even if the blockade is totally lifted, it will take at least five years and US$7.8 billion to rebuild Gaza, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction.
Abu Hasna said it was in Israel's "own interest" to ease the blockade and allow reconstruction.
"The more time that passes [without rebuilding], the more frustration will grow and tensions mount in the Gaza Strip," he said.