With 83% of its buildings destroyed, Gaza needs over money to rebuild
Auckland: The Gaza Strip is a tortured piece of land that is about 40km long and 11km wide. Some 2.3 million souls are crammed into a space of around 360 square kilometres. This is barely larger than central Sydney.
People and empires have lived in, built on, fought over and destroyed the area for thousands of years.
The consequences of the Israel-Palestine war have been catastrophic.
The human toll is immense: the United Nations estimates more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed and almost 170,000 wounded. About 1,200 Israelis have been killed and 5,400 injured since October 7, 2023. Gaza itself has been razed to the ground in many areas. The United Nations estimates that 83 per cent of all structures and housing units have been damaged in Gaza City.
The ability of Gaza to support life is in question. The recent ceasefire could see a longer-term peace. At the time of writing, it continues to hold, but optimism is not high.
If peace is to hold in the long term, there is a need to look into reestablishing the means by which Gaza can sustain its population.
Gaza is a disaster zone. Infrastructure has been dramatically impacted.
The damage is similar in scale and scope to a Category 4 or 5 hurricane.
Like any disaster, food, medicine and bottled water are the immediate priorities. This will sustain life in the short term. Assuming a major effort can be made to open border crossings, lives will be saved by bringing immediate relief to victims of food and medical supply shortages.
Engineers will be a key resource in reconstructing Gaza. After sustained bombing, priorities will be reconstituting buried assets such as power, water and sewerage, and pumping stations. While the original lines of buried pipes will be known from city mapping, much of the infrastructure will be cracked, broken or destroyed. Failure to do so will lead to outbreaks of diseases such as typhus and dysentery.
Unexploded bombs and ammunition will need clearance. Damaged houses and public buildings will present huge public safety risks of collapse. Massive demolition and clearance will be required for millions of tonnes of debris.
Following these immediate priorities will be the construction or repair of hospitals, houses, schools, road systems and governance infrastructure – all of which will have been massively compromised.
Realistically, it will take decades to design, finance and reconstruct infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. Emergency fixes can be made in the short term (3–6 months), but winter could exact a further toll if delays occur.
