According to the Special Representative of the United Nations Development Program for Palestinians, Jaco Cilliers, the destruction throughout the enclave “is now in the region of 84 percent. In certain parts of Gaza, such as Gaza City, it is even as high as 92 percent.”
20 billion dollars needed now
Speaking from Jerusalem, UNDP’s Mr Cilliers highlighted the findings of the latest Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (IRDNA) in Gaza by the UN, the European Union and the World Bank, which estimated damages at $70 billion.
To launch the massive operation, some In the next three years alone, 20 billion dollars will be neededhe told reporters in Geneva.
The UN development agency is present in Gaza together with humanitarian partners to provide immediate support to the enclave’s 2.1 million inhabitants.
This includes providing clean water, emergency employment, medical supplies, solid waste removal, and making homes and public spaces safe by clearing debris that potentially hides unexploded ordnance or the many thousands of missing Palestinians.
“We have already removed about 81,000 tons, that is, about… 3,100 trucks,” Cilliers explained. “Most of the debris removal is aimed at providing access to humanitarian actors so they can provide much-needed aid and support to the people of Gaza. But we also help with hospitals and other social services that need to be cleared of debris.”
The UNDP official noted “very good indications” from potential donors in support of reconstruction by the Arab States, but also by European nations and the United States “which has also indicated that they will come to support some of the first recovery efforts.”
Immediate help essential
As important as reconstruction is to Gaza’s long-term future, UN aid workers once again called on Israeli authorities to open all access points to Gaza, after the 20 remaining living Israeli hostages were freed on Monday and Palestinian prisoners were freed from Israel.
This development followed the signing of a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel signed on Monday night in Sharm El-Sheikh by US President Donald Trump and the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and Turkïye.
Earlier on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the release of all living Gaza hostages, two years after they were among some 250 captured during the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023.
Testimony in Gaza City
talking to UN News From Gaza, Tess Ingram, a humanitarian worker with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), described the story of a family displaced five times by war:
“Today I met a family, Mustafa and Syeda and their children, and they told me that they were among the lucky ones because while Mustafa was removing debris from the building, that is their home, at least he said, we have a home.”
The family was relieved on Monday at the appearance of a tanker, Ms Imgram told us: “But they live in fear that the truck will not arrive today or tomorrow. She also can’t get the medications she needs and her children had to walk a long way today just to buy the basics she needed to do. some bread
“Families need absolutely everything right now. We need the hundreds of trucks a day that were promised to arrive in the Gaza Strip.”
hostage remains
On Tuesday, attention focused on the transfer of all the deceased hostages from Gaza, an extremely difficult process overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). It is not yet clear how many deceased hostages will be transferred by Hamas.
“When it comes to live hostages or Palestinian detainees – and believe me, it’s a big problem for us – we don’t really know, we know we have to be prepared,” said ICRC spokesman Christian Cardon, adding that the complex search begins today.
Meanwhile, the needs in Gaza remain enormous and “fluid,” aid teams report, with more than 300,000 Palestinians heading north to Gaza City since Friday, as the ceasefire agreement appeared to hold.
“The enthusiasm that came from the international community, from people who thought that this was the beginning of the end of all the suffering and that things would change quickly, is it just doesn’t reflect on the groundday after day. We are not receiving enough help,” said United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesman Ricardo Pires.
Israeli authorities have agreed to allow 190,000 tons of relief supplies into Gaza and U.N. agencies and their partners are rapidly expanding their operations, but overall much more is needed, humanitarian agencies, including the U.N. aid office, OCHA, have repeatedly said.
“Of course, we are advocating with everyone, and yesterday we were also there in Sharm El-Sheikh, with 22 heads of state and government, whom we ask to help us push all possible buttons to get this up and running as soon as possible,” said OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke.
Massacre at the help center
Aid teams continue to insist that it is necessary to stop distributing vital supplies from remote areas, including non-UN aid centers, which are difficult to reach and where hundreds of Palestinians have been injured or shot.
“Most actors, including the ICRC, were unable to organize a sufficient distribution of aid within Gaza,” Cardón said. “And what we’ve seen instead is that, in many cases, people returning from distribution sites are injured, if not killed… It’s a matter of help reaching people and not more people turning to it.”