Unprecedented destruction of housing in Gaza hasn’t been seen since World War II: UN
- UN assessment says reconstruction of war-torn Gaza could take at least until 2040, cost up to US$50 billion
- Nearly 80,000 Gaza homes have been destroyed in a conflict triggered by the October 7 Hamas attacks
The world hasn’t seen anything like the unprecedented destruction of housing in Gaza since World War II, and it would take at least until 2040 to restore the homes devastated in Israel’s bombing and ground offensive if the conflict ended today, the United Nations reported.
The UN assessment said the social and economic impact of the war launched after Hamas’ surprise attack in southern Israel on October 7 has been increasing “in an exponential manner”.
It called the level of casualties – 5 per cent of Gaza’s 2.3 million population – “unprecedented” in such a short time.
By mid-April, it said, over 33,000 Palestinians had been killed and more than 80,000 injured. About 7,000 others remain missing, most believed to be buried under the rubble.
“Every additional day that this war continues is exacting huge and compounding costs to Gazans and all Palestinians” said United Nations Development Programme Administrator Achim Steiner.