UNDP chief Achim Steiner said that “about two-thirds of the buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or damaged by the intensive shelling of the Israeli army, and the removal of 42 million tons of rubble will be a dangerous and complex process.”
He added that the war on Gaza “wiped out 60 years of development.”
Steiner told AFP that “between 65 and 70 percent of the buildings in Gaza are likely to have been completely destroyed or damaged.”
“Two million people living in Gaza have lost their homes, but they have also lost public infrastructure, wastewater treatment systems, drinking water supply systems and waste management,” Steiner said.
“The fragile ceasefire agreement and its volatile nature make it difficult to predict how long the reconstruction process will take,” the UN official said.
“It will take many years to start rebuilding physical infrastructure and rebuilding the entire economy.”