More than $50 billion US needed to rebuild devastated Gaza Strip: World Bank joint report

More than $50 billion US will be required to rebuild Gaza after Israel’s 15-month campaign against Hamas levelled it, according to an assessment released Tuesday by the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank.

The Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (IRDNA) said that $53.2 billion US is needed for recovery and reconstruction over the next 10 years, with $20 billion US needed in the first three.

Israel’s devastating military campaign in Gaza was launched in response to the Hamas-led attack on Oct 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s subsequent operation has killed more than 48,000 people, according to Gaza health officials, displaced 1.9 million people and left the enclave in ruins.

Years of rebuilding work, including clearing unexploded ordinance and millions of tonnes of rubble, lie ahead.

The report, issued amid a fragile ceasefire that began last month, warned that conditions were not yet in place for large-scale recovery and reconstruction work to begin, given a lack of clarity about how the enclave would be run after the war and what security arrangements would be in place.

“The speed, scale and scope of recovery will be shaped by these conditions,” the report said.

Housing and infrastructure half of rebuilding costs

The IRDNA said that more than 292,000 homes had been destroyed or damaged and 95 per cent of hospitals were non-functional, while the local economy had contracted by 83 per cent.

More than half the total estimated cost of rebuilding, or $29.9 billion US, would be required to repair damage to buildings and other infrastructure, including housing, which would require around $15.2 billion US to rebuild, it said.

Another $19.1 billion US would be needed to make up for social and economic losses, including health, education, commerce and industry sectors devastated in the conflict, it said.

“The recovery and reconstruction needs identified in this IRDNA report are vast,” the report states. “Funding will require a broad coalition of donors, diverse financing instruments, private sector resources, and significant improvements in the delivery of reconstruction materials to Gaza in the post-conflict period.”

On Tuesday, some construction equipment was also allowed into Gaza through the Rafah crossing, crucial for progressing the cleanup. 

Mobile homes for Gazans whose homes were destroyed and have nowhere to shelter in the winter weather were also sitting on trucks at the crossing on Tuesday, poised to enter the enclave. An Israeli official said Israel will start allowing them to be brought into Gaza.

Hamas had accused Israel of delaying the delivery of these mobile homes and had threatened to postpone the release of hostages until the issue was resolved. 

Restoring services is step one

The first priority, the report stated, will be social services such as health and education, as well as basic services in the water, telecom and energy sectors. 

As the rubble is cleared away, special care will need to be taken as bodies emerge from underneath destroyed homes and buildings, the report added. Palestinian health authorities estimate that up to 10,000 people are buried under the debris in Gaza. 

Gaza’s economy will also need to be rebuilt as well — the enclave’s contribution to the overall Palestinian economy dropped down to three per cent in 2024, the report estimates, despite the Gaza Strip making up 40 per cent of the Palestinian population across the Palestinian territories. 

The assessment was performed in co-ordination with the Palestinian Authority, which oversees the occupied West Bank. It also looked at spillover effects in the West Bank between October 2023 and October 2024, and found that the West Bank had suffered increased violence in that time period in the form of settler violence and increased Israeli military incursions into residential areas. 

Housing damage in the West Bank was estimated at around $16 million US, while damage to healthcare infrastructure in the West Bank totalled $14.6 million US.