Gaza reconstruction priority: removing rubble, working on infrastructure, and rehabilitating the community psychologically and economically

Since October 7, Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have been completely isolated from the outside world, with their cell phones and radios confiscated, leaving us completely unaware of the developments of the war until the night before my release. That night, we met an officer from the Israeli intelligence service (Shabak), behind whom were posters showing the extent of the destruction in the Gaza Strip, a message to us that this is what awaits us in Gaza.

When I arrived in the Gaza Strip as part of the exchange deal, a chapter of suffering and deprivation ended and a new chapter of painful scenes began. On my way from

From the Kerem Shalom crossing to my home, I saw the massive destruction of homes, factories and infrastructure, as if a violent earthquake had struck the area, leaving nothing but an endless sea of rubble. Piles of solid waste piled up at intersections, while sewage flowed in the streets after the sewage networks were destroyed, a scene that reflected the scale of the humanitarian disaster that befell the Strip as a result of the war.

When I met my family and friends, my feelings of joy at my return were mixed with sadness and fear of the unknown. Everyone began to talk about what had happened and the bitter reality of Gaza after the war, to ease the shock of what I would see. There were no homes, schools, or hospitals left, water and electricity were unavailable, diseases and epidemics were spreading, and the smell of death wafted from the rubble under which victims were still buried who no one had been able to retrieve. In the north of Gaza, famine had set in, and people were forced to eat animals and tree leaves, while aid was being stolen in the south by thieves protected by the border fence with Israel. Even relief trucks were diverted to the black market, where the price of a 25-kilo bag of flour rose from $10 to more than $700, and the price of a kilo of sugar ranged between $30 and $35, leaving the displaced living between the risk of bombing, hunger, and looting. Even after the truce, the prices of basic commodities continued to rise sharply, while fuel and food supplies remained extremely limited. The price of a kilo of cooking gas has increased from $1.5 to $15, and the price of gasoline and diesel has increased tenfold. The prices of fruits and vegetables have also increased fivefold.

With more than 50 million tons of rubble, thousands of tons of solid waste, and sewage flowing into the streets, the health situation has become extremely dangerous, threatening the outbreak of new epidemics that will increase the suffering of citizens. Therefore, I believe that the top priority at the current stage is to rehabilitate the infrastructure, by removing mountains of rubble, and cleaning the streets of sewage to prevent a greater environmental and health disaster. This can be achieved through the efforts of municipalities, after providing the necessary materials and equipment, in conjunction with rebuilding and operating hospitals and schools, and preparing safe spaces for children to support them psychologically after this devastating war, in parallel with rehabilitating the destroyed agricultural sector to restore food security.

As for reconstruction, the practical solution for removing rubble in the camps is to use prefabricated housing units based on the Turkish model used after the recent earthquake that struck Turkey. The houses there are low-rise, while the task of removing rubble outside the camps should be handed over to specialized international companies, so that the rubble can be recycled for use in building roads and producing building materials. Reconstruction efforts must also be invested in expanding the Gaza port, rehabilitating agricultural lands and greenhouses, and repairing water wells, which will improve food security and gradually reduce prices. After the 2014 war, we succeeded in rehabilitating thousands of dunams of agricultural land in one year, and despite the massive destruction of the agricultural infrastructure this time, the agricultural sector can be restored within two years if the necessary budgets and materials are available. As for the fishing sector, it can be restarted in just three months, by providing basic equipment to fishermen.

On the human level, all residents of the Gaza Strip have been psychologically traumatized by the war that targeted every home. However, the most affected group are children, which portends the emergence of a more cruel generation if the children of Gaza are not psychologically and socially rehabilitated. History shows that children who lived through the 2008 war joined the confrontations in 2011 out of revenge, and those who were not rehabilitated after the 2011 war were more ferocious in 2014, leading up to the October 7 attack, which was the most violent ever. The continuation of the economic blockade and the loss of hope push young people to search for any party that provides them with a better life, which makes it easy for them to be recruited by parties seeking to achieve their interests in the region by exploiting their feelings that are inflamed as a result of the destruction they witnessed.

After the 2014 war, World Vision created safe spaces for children, where thousands of them received psychosocial support and flew kites carrying messages of peace to the world. The organization also supported their families through food security programs, which helped guide them towards building a positive future. However, after the organization’s activities were stopped in 2016, signs of a new generation’s deviation emerged, as children used kites to set fires in the Gaza envelope settlements, a clear indication that the blockade and war only bring more violence and losses to everyone.

The policy of starvation and strangulation has proven to increase radicalism and hostility, and the Israeli approach to Gaza has failed miserably, as was clearly demonstrated after the October 7 attack. Even in prison, the abuse and starvation of Palestinian prisoners after the attack led some of them to take revenge and target Israeli civilians immediately upon their release. Israel and the world must realize that the iron fist is counterproductive in Gaza, and that continuing the blockade will only lead to further escalation.

In conclusion, rebuilding Gaza requires not only engineering efforts, but also a comprehensive vision that focuses on rehabilitating the community psychologically and economically, to ensure a more stable and hopeful future for future generations.