Gaza’s human development has been set back 77 years, with recovery and reconstruction needs totaling $71.4 billion over the next decade, according to an assessment released this week by the European Union, the United Nations and World Bank.
The final report, the Gaza Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment, notes an “unprecedented loss of life and a catastrophic humanitarian crisis” brought on by the terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, carried out by unnamed “militant groups,” leading to the Israel-Hamas war.
The report estimates $26.3 billion will be required in the first 18 months to restore essential services, rebuild critical infrastructure and support economic recovery. Total physical damage is put at $35.2 billion, with economic and social losses at $22.7 billion.
Housing, health care, education, commerce and agriculture were among the hardest-hit sectors, with more than half of hospitals nonfunctional, most schools damaged or destroyed, and Gaza’s economy contracting by about 84%, the assessment found.
U.N. Security Council Resolution 2803, passed in November, gave force to U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace and laid out priorities for Gaza’s rebuilding.
“Given the immense scale of need, recovery efforts must run in parallel with humanitarian action, ensuring an effective and well-sequenced transition from emergency relief toward reconstruction at scale,” the RDNA said, while recognizing recovery efforts cannot succeed without a sustained ceasefire and “adequate security.”
The document calls for the restoration of Palestinian Authority governance in the Strip, which Israel opposes, along with efforts to “advance a durable political settlement based on the two-state solution.”
The ceasefire, in place since January, is fragile, given Hamas’s refusal to disarm. Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, said this week that he was “fairly optimistic” that Hamas would agree to give up its weapons, but the talks with the terror group are “not easy.”
