UN Estimate: More Than $53 Billion Needed for Reconstruction of Devastated Gaza

(Patria) - Recovery and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, devastated after more than a year of war, will require more than $53 billion, including $20 billion in the first three years, the United Nations (UN) estimated today.

"Short-term, medium-term, and long-term recovery and reconstruction needs in the Gaza Strip are estimated at $53.14 billion.

Of this, short-term financial requirements for the first three years are estimated at approximately $20.56 billion," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote in a report to the UN General Assembly.

In a resolution adopted in December, calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the UN General Assembly asked Guterres to provide it with an estimate of Gaza's short-term, medium-term, and long-term needs within two months.

"Although it was not possible to fully assess the entire range of needs that will be necessary in the Gaza Strip in the current context, a rapid preliminary assessment provides an initial indication of the significant scale of recovery and reconstruction needs in the territory.

With more than 60 percent of homes destroyed since October 2023, the housing sector will require about 30 percent of the reconstruction needs, or $15.2 billion," the report states.

This is followed by trade and industry ($6.9 billion), health ($6.9 billion), agriculture ($4.2 billion), social protection ($4.2 billion), transport ($2.9 billion), water and sanitation ($2.7 billion), and education ($2.6 billion).

The report also notes particularly high costs expected for environmental protection sectors ($1.9 billion) - "due to the large amount of rubble containing unexploded ordnance and the high costs associated with waste removal".

The UN estimates that the conflict has created "more than 50 million tons of waste, beneath which lie human remains alongside unexploded ordnance, asbestos, and other hazardous materials".