The cost of rebuilding Gaza could surpass $80 billion, with an additional $700 million needed to remove the 42 million tons of rubble left by the ongoing conflict, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The reconstruction efforts will be extensive, as the region has faced severe devastation from Israeli airstrikes, which have obliterated a large portion of Gaza’s infrastructure and housing.
The United Nations reports that the airstrikes have produced over 42 million tons of debris across Gaza, with most of it consisting of destroyed residential buildings.
This rubble is spread across the region, mirroring the population density before the war.
More than 70% of Gaza’s homes have been damaged, along with hospitals and businesses, highlighting the immense scale of the destruction.
A previous report by the World Bank and the United Nations estimated that the damage to Gaza’s vital infrastructure between October 2023 and January 2024 amounted to approximately $18.5 billion.
However, Daniel Egel, a senior economist at the RAND Corporation, suggests that the total cost of rebuilding Gaza could exceed $80 billion when considering hidden expenses like the long-term impact on the labor market caused by death, injury, and trauma.
Bloomberg’s report emphasizes the immense challenge of clearing the debris, which is enough to fill a line of garbage trucks stretching from New York to Singapore.
Removing this debris could take years and cost around $700 million, with the process further complicated by unexploded bombs, hazardous materials, and human remains buried beneath the rubble.
Finding safe disposal sites for the contaminated debris will add another layer of complexity to the reconstruction efforts.
Relief agencies have expressed deep concern for Gaza’s 2.2 million residents, many of whom are displaced and confined to a small strip of land along the Mediterranean coast.
These individuals face severe shortages of fresh water, food, medicine, and basic sanitation.
Mark Jarzombek, a professor of architectural history at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told Bloomberg that the situation in Gaza represents an unprecedented challenge in urban planning.
Jarzombek added that the cost of reconstruction will be extraordinarily high, and the necessary construction sites will need to be cleared of people, leading to further displacement.
He warned that Gaza will struggle for generations to recover from this devastation.
The situation is particularly dire in northern Gaza, where the city of Gaza has sustained the most damage, accounting for over half of the debris in the region.
Rebuilding Gaza will require a comprehensive overhaul of its physical infrastructure and a political resolution to determine its future governance.
However, the immediate priority will be the massive task of clearing the rubble and debris left in the aftermath of the conflict.
