It could take 350 years for Gaza to rebuild if it remains under blockade, UN report says

United Nations agencies have long warned that it could take decades to rebuild Gaza after Israel’s offensive against Hamas, one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns since World War II.

Now, more than a year into the war, a new report speaks in terms of centuries.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development said in a report released Monday that if the war ends tomorrow and Gaza returns to the status quo before Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, it could take 350 years for its battered economy to return to its precarious pre-war level.

Before the war, Gaza was under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade imposed after Hamas seized power in 2007. Four previous wars and divisions between Hamas and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in the West Bank also took a toll on Gaza’s economy.

Roughly a quarter of all structures in Gaza have been destroyed or severely damaged. File photo: AP

The current war has caused staggering destruction across the territory, with entire neighbourhoods obliterated and roads and critical infrastructure in ruins. Mountains of rubble laced with decomposing bodies and unexploded ordnance would have to be cleared before rebuilding could begin.

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ООН блокада Агентство Организации Объединенных Наций восстановление газа доклад оон ХАМАС десятилетие нападение