Senior financial officials from around the world have expressed their willingness to help rebuild the devastated Gaza, as the World Bank and the United Nations work on a new cost estimate – which could top $70 billion.
At the meeting of the Development Committee, an advisory body of the World Bank and the IMF, the challenges of reconstruction were discussed, confirmed the Director General of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
– We are all grateful for the ceasefire and that the killing has stopped. We hope that it will lead to peaceful reconstruction – she said.
Although a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was achieved through American mediation, the UN warns that humanitarian aid is difficult to reach northern Gaza due to destroyed infrastructure and closed roads.
The World Food Program states that an average of 560 tonnes of food enters Gaza per day – well below actual needs.
Haoliang Xu from the UNDP says that the conditions for the start of reconstruction have not yet been met, and one of the key obstacles is the removal of more than 61 million tons of rubble. He also emphasized that shelters are urgently needed considering the arrival of winter.
The original estimate for the reconstruction in February was $50 billion, but the new figure is rising as the extent of the destruction becomes clearer.
Israel began its offensive in Gaza on October 7, 2023. Over 67,000 Palestinians were killed, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
(Vijesti.ba)
