Friday, September 05, 2014
The amount of destruction in the Gaza Strip is "beyond expected," said Palestinian housing minister Moufeed Al-Hassaina in a recent interview with China Central Television.
"We wish that we could just comfort the people of Gaza, saying that everything will be great, but we should be realistic, the amount of destruction in the Gaza Strip is beyond expected, but we're doing our best to push the international community into
taking its responsibilities towards helping the reconstruction of Gaza as soon as possible," Al-Hassaina told CCTV.
taking its responsibilities towards helping the reconstruction of Gaza as soon as possible," Al-Hassaina told CCTV.
Israel and Palestine agreed to an open-ended truce last Tuesday after seven weeks of violence.
An estimated 18,000 housing units have been either destroyed or severely damaged, leaving more than 108,000 people homeless, a UN spokesman said Tuesday.
A humanitarian group called "Shelter Cluster" - co-chaired by the UN and Red Cross - says reconstruction will take 20 years and will cost more than 6 billion U.S. dollars.
In its latest report, the Palestinian militant group Hamas says around 17,000 Gaza housing units were destroyed or severely damaged by Israel's "Operation Protective Edge."
Walking around the Gaza Strip, one can see scenes of destruction almost everywhere. Trucks and derricks are removing the rubble to clear streets. Residents are coming to terms with how long it will take for life to return to normal.
But the blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt on Gaza after Hamas took power in 2007 will slow down this process.
Israel restricts building materials such as concrete from entering Gaza, fearing they will fall into the hands of militants who will use them to build tunnels for cross-border attacks.
Analysts say a full cooperation agreement between the Palestinian Unity government on one side and Israel andEgypt on the other will be necessary for reconstruction efforts to succeed.
More than 2,000 Palestinians were killed and 10,000 injured since July 8 when Israel launched offensives in a bid to stamp out cross-border rocket fired from Hamas-ruled Gaza. On the Israeli side, five civilians and 64 soldiers have been killed.
