Gaza Will Take Years To Recover From Israeli Attacks, Experts Say

Gaza is running out of drinking water, food and medical supplies. A short cease-fire this weekend revealed the extent of the damage from Israel’s offensive.
















Ibraheem Abu Mustafa / Reuters











JERUSALEM — Gaza will need years to recover from the damage inflicted upon the strip by nearly three weeks of Israeli bombardment, United Nations experts say, as a brief cease-fire this weekend revealed the extent to which the region's infrastructure has been damaged.

"There is damage to every part of civilian infrastructure imaginable. Water, electricity, food, shelter, everything will need aid," said Muhammed Abu Halima, a U.N. aid worker who works at a Gaza school that has been converted into a shelter. "It will take years for Gaza to recover."

















Humanitarian groups are just starting to take stock of how many homes were destroyed, aided by a 12-hour ceasefire Saturday. Fighting has resumed since then, despite pressure from countries in the region and the West to agree to a more lasting truce.






Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times / MCT











The United Nations announced this week that it was launching a $115 million plan for reconstruction in Gaza, where homes, schools and hospitals have been destroyed.

"With every hour that goes by, the destruction in Gaza is furthered, and the U.N. will need to revise that $115 million plan upwards," said Chris Gunness, a U.N. spokesman.

Food and water have been scarce since last week, when thousands streamed into U.N. facilities in central Gaza to escape the bombardment in the northern, southern and eastern part of the coastal strip. U.N. officials estimate that the current number of people taking refuge exceeds 167,000.

"We don't have the facilities, the funds to care for them long-term. Everything is scarce, and many of these people will sadly soon discover that they have nothing to return home to," said Abu Halima of the U.N.

Gaza's northeastern cities have been the hardest hit. It is from there that Hamas dug dozens of attack tunnels into Israel and used open areas as a launchpad for rockets. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initially said the goal of Israel's offensive into Gaza was to clear the tunnels, but military officials say the mission in Gaza has since been expanded, as Israel looks to deal a more punishing blow to Hamas.

Human rights groups, including the Israeli legal aid NGO Gisha, are already warning that the Israeli government will be loathe to allow cement back into the Gaza Strip, after hundreds of tons of cement were used to build the attack tunnels into Israel.

"Without cement, and a great deal of funds, it's unclear how Gaza can possibly rebuild," said Abu Halima.







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