It will take $7.8 billion to repair damage across several sectors in the Gaza strip after Israel's two-month offensive against the Islamist militant group Hamas, the Palestinian Authority said Thursday according to Reuters.
Some 17,000 homes and Gaza's only power plant were destroyed during the war that began July 8, as well as entire neighborhoods and schools that were razed to the ground by Israeli-led air strikes.
The Palestinian Authority said it will cost $2.5 billion to repair the homes and another $250 million for the power plant. Their results were based on a survey ran by the Palestinian Economic Council for Research and Development to assess the damage.
"The attack on Gaza this time had no precedent, Gaza has been hit with a catastrophe and it needs immediate help because many things can't wait long," Mohammed Shtayyeh, a Palestinian economist and politician who heads PECDAR, told Reuters.
Thousands of children are unable to return to school because the buildings were either destroyed or are being used to shelter refugees. Gaza's education sector will need an estimated $143 million to function again.
The rest of the funds are to be divided among Gaza's health, agriculture, transportation and financial sectors.
But it appears any plans to begin reconstruction will have to be put on hold. Fighting between Hamas militants and Israel has been halted ever since a ceasefire was put in place August 26. Little progress has been made in discussing a reconstruction plan since then, Reuters reported.
Shtayyeh said Israel has yet to allow Gaza border crossings so resources can enter the coastal strip.
Furthermore, most of the money would have to come from foreign aid, since the PA is financially struggling and barely has enough to pay its employees, Shtayyeh told Reuters. An international donor conference is supposed to take place in Cairo, but no official date has been set.
