Destruction of Gaza has set back development by 69 years: UN report

(LONDON) — The Gaza infrastructure decimated by the Israel military operation against Hamas has set back human development in the area by almost 70 years, according to a new UN report.

After Hamas launched an unprecedented terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage, Israel began its military retaliation on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 42,000 people in the Palestinian territory, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry.

As the war in the region rages on, Israeli President Isaac Herzog has said that Israel “must act in every way possible to bring back the 101 hostages” still in Gaza after the announcement that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had been killed during an Oct. 17 military operation.

Approximately 60% of buildings in Gaza — at least 151,265 structures — and 57% of agricultural land have been damaged or destroyed, according to a new assessment released Tuesday from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA).

UNDP estimates that the war has erased “over 69 years of progress” in Gaza and that it would cost more than $18.5 billion to repair the direct damage to the territory’s infrastructure.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has called the mass destruction of dwellings “domicide,” known as the widespread destruction of a living environment, as it has made the Palestinian territory “uninhabitable.”The report also highlights UN concerns about access to not just housing, but also food sources, health care, drinking water, sanitation facilities and more.

“Projections in this new assessment confirm that amidst the immediate suffering and horrific loss of life, a serious development crisis is also unfolding – one that jeopardizes the future of Palestinians for generations to come,” said Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator. “The assessment indicates that, even if humanitarian aid is provided each year, the economy may not regain its pre-crisis level for a decade or more. As conditions on the ground allow, the Palestinian people need a robust early recovery strategy embedded in the humanitarian assistance phase, laying foundations for a sustainable recovery.”

UNDP reports that about 90% of the population has been internally displaced, many of them repeatedly. With tens of thousands of damaged housing units among the destruction, more than 743,000 individuals are expected to remain displaced after the war’s end.

This impact is larger than just housing — an estimated 67% of water and sanitation infrastructure and facilities were damaged or destroyed, and 92.9% of school buildings have sustained damage. Health care infrastructure has faced almost 500 attacks recorded by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Israeli officials have said Sinwar’s death “creates a possibility for the immediate release of the abductees and to bring about a change that will lead to a new reality in Gaza — without Hamas and without Iranian control,” according to Israel Foreign Minister Israel Katz.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Tuesday amid U.S. efforts to kickstart stalled cease-fire negotiations in Gaza and encourage a diplomatic resolution to ongoing fighting between the Israeli Defense Forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.