Gaza will need 80 years to "fully rebuild" from Israeli destruction

A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said that Gaza would need an enormous amount of 30 to 40 billion dollars to rebuild from the destruction caused by Israel.

According to a UN report released on Thursday, Gaza's shattered homes will take a minimum of 16 years to rebuild, "but could drag on for many decades".

Israel has been bombing Gaza for almost seven months, causing many human lives and billions of dollars in damage.

According to data shared by Palestinian authorities, nearly 80,000 homes have been destroyed by the Israeli military since October 7. 

Over 35,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 78,000 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza.

"In a best-case scenario in which construction materials are delivered five times as fast as in the last Gaza crisis in 2021, rebuilding destroyed homes could be done by 2040," the report said.

"Gaza would need approximately 80 years to restore all the fully destroyed housing units under a scenario assuming the pace of reconstruction follows the trend of several previous Gaza conflicts," it added.

"Every additional day that this war continues is exacting huge and compounding costs to Gazans and all Palestinians, now and in the medium and long term. Compared to our preliminary assessment, these new figures warn that the suffering in Gaza will not end when the war does,” said UNDP Administrator, Achim Steiner. 

“Unprecedented levels of human losses, capital destruction, and the steep rise in poverty in such a short period of time will precipitate a serious development crisis that jeopardizes the future of generations to come,” he added.

A separate report by the UN showed that 85.8% of schools in Gaza were destroyed in Israeli bombardment. 

"Over 70% of schools will require major or full reconstruction," the UN statement noted.