The battle over Gaza's future: Why no one can agree on the rebuild

29 minutes ago Share Save Paul Adams Diplomatic correspondent Share Save

BBC

In the midst of a still shaky ceasefire, Gazans are taking the first tentative steps along the long road to recovery. Bulldozers are clearing roads, shovelling the detritus of war into waiting trucks. Mountains of rubble and twisted metal are on either side, the remains of once bustling neighbourhoods. Parts of Gaza City are disfigured beyond recognition. "This was my house," says Abu Iyad Hamdouna. He points to a mangled heap of concrete and steel in Sheikh Radwan, which was once one of Gaza City's most densely populated neighbourhoods. "It was here. But there's no house left."

AFP via Getty Images The sheer scale of challenge to rebuild Gaza (pictured in January) is staggering

Abu Iyad is 63. If Gaza ever rises from the ashes, he doesn't expect to be around to see it. "At this rate, I think it'll take 10 years." He looks exhausted and resigned. "We'll be dead... we'll die without seeing reconstruction." Nearby, 43-year-old Nihad al-Madhoun and his nephew Said are picking through the wreckage of what was once a home. The building might well collapse but it doesn't deter them - they collect old breeze blocks and brush thick dust off an old red sofa. "The removal of rubble alone might take more than five years," he says. "And we will wait. We have no other option." The sheer scale of the challenge is staggering. The UN estimates the cost of damage at £53bn ($70bn). Almost 300,000 houses and apartments have been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN's satellite centre Unosat. The Gaza Strip is littered with 60 million tonnes of rubble, mixed in with dangerous unexploded bombs and dead bodies.

Nihad al-Madhoun: '[It's] about a month since we came back. The streets haven't been opened. The water and sewage lines… nothing's been done with them'

In all, more than 68,000 people have been killed in Gaza in the past two