Gaza reconstruction will take 20 years, UN-backed construction authority

The United Nations said there are some challenges which still hinder efforts to re-construct the Gaza Strip following fighting in the coastal enclave in 2014.

A a report distributed by the UN Office for the Coordination Humanitarian Affaiars in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Monday said that UN agencies document collective progress made in the last two years, as well as some of the remaining challenges in the recovery and reconstruction effort following the 2014 hostilities, which left at least 1,400 Palestinian and six Israelis civilians dead, 11,200 Palestinians injured and an estimated 100,000 people homeless. 

Children and women accounted for over 60 percent of all fatalities and injuries in Gaza, according to the report.

The UN estimates that to date, half of the homes which suffered partial damages and a third of destroyed homes have been rebuilt; thanks to ongoing efforts by the Palestinian government, UN agencies, Non-Government Organizations, the international donor community, the private sector and above all, the households themselves. 

All of the 78 hospitals, clinics and the 252 schools damaged have been repaired, while the reconstruction of health and education infrastructure that were fully destroyed is ongoing, it said.

Source: MENA