RAMALLAH, 20 Nov (Xinhua) -- Facilities destroyed are short of funds and Gaza is struggling to rebuild
Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Lin
On the 21st of this month, the latest round of large-scale conflict between Palestine and Israel ended half a year later. In May, armed groups in the Gaza Strip, such as the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), erupted in 11 days of clashes and a formal ceasefire on May 21. Israeli bombardments have caused a large number of casualties in the Gaza Strip and have severely damaged military installations and urban infrastructure. Although Gaza has begun to rebuild with funding from countries such as Egypt, the Israeli blockade has also made reconstruction more difficult in the face of difficulties such as energy and equipment shortages and insufficient funds.
Smoke rises from an air-raided building in Rafah, Gaza Strip, on May 19. (Xinhua News Agency, photo by Khalid Omar)
Infrastructure is badly damaged
Gaza City in the Gaza Strip was the hardest hit during the may conflict. According to Hamas, which actually controls the Gaza Strip, a total of 2.66 million metres of water lines and 5.44 million square metres of public roads were blown up in the clashes, more than 260 people were killed, some 2,200 houses were completely destroyed and 37,000 buildings were damaged.
Husni Muhanna, press officer at Gaza City Hall, said damage to several main roads and infrastructure had prevented the injured from reaching hospitals in the shortest possible time during the conflict. After the end of the conflict, the Gaza City Hall began restoration work as soon as possible, and the restoration of the main transport hub has now been completed.
Urban water pipelines and sewage treatment plants have also been severely damaged, and as winter approaches, government departments are unable to fully repair damaged pipelines, but have to temporarily repair most of the water pipes and reopen some of the old pipes. But some of the old pipes have been unused for decades, and the internal rust and pollution are so bad that the water quality cannot meet drinking standards, and the government can only deliver drinking water to residents' homes through water trucks.
In addition, Gaza's power system is aging, there are long-term problems with power supply, and many machinery and equipment in the reconstruction need power supply, which has led to a more tense contradiction between electricity supply and demand, and the daily electricity consumption of residents has been affected. Moreover, many large construction machinery such as bulldozers and transport vehicles have exceeded their service life, and there are currently only 8 engineering equipment in Gaza City that are within the service life.
Abdullah Zawara, a 23-year-old Palestinian hairdresser, served customers for free in front of his house destroyed by Israel on May 26 in the northern Gaza Strip town of Petrahiya. (Xinhua News Agency, photo by Lizek Abdul Javad)
Shortages of funds plague reconstruction
Palestinian Deputy Minister of Public Works and Housing, Najib Sal khan, said Gaza had experienced several wars, had sufficient reconstruction experience, had completed rubble clearing, had technical plans and labour forces in place and, if funded, had confidence in returning to what it had been before the conflict within a year. But analysts point to a shortage of funds as the biggest challenge facing Gaza's reconstruction.
The Hamas government estimates that gaza reconstruction is expected to cost $497 million, and although Egypt and Qatar have each agreed to provide $500 million in aid, the aid is disbursed in multiple phases and is expected to last for several years. It is also questionable whether this assistance will eventually be implemented. For example, after the end of the large-scale Palestinian-Israeli conflict in 2014, many countries in the world agreed to provide financial assistance to the Palestinian side, but the final implementation was less than 25% of the promised amount.
The reluctance of the United States and other Western countries to cooperate with Hamas is also an important reason why aid funds are difficult to reach. Since Biden became us president, the United States has resumed the aid to Pakistan that was cut off during the Trump era, but most of the aid has been delivered through relevant UNITED Nations projects rather than directly to the Pakistani national authority. The United States has previously claimed to contribute to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, but stressed that it will not allow Hamas to profit from reconstruction assistance.
In addition, Israel's deduction of Palestinian taxes has also led to a financial strain on the Palestinian side. In July, the Israeli government froze the 600 million NIS (about US$183 million) tax that should be transferred to the Palestinian National Authority. According to the Paris Economic Protocol signed by Palestine and Israel in 1994, israel is responsible for imposing customs duties on goods shipped to Pakistan, collecting personal income tax on Palestinians working in Israel, and regularly transferring taxes to the Palestinian side. This amount represents two thirds of the budget of the Palestinian National Authority. The Israeli side often withholds the collection of taxes as a "punishment" measure against the Palestinian side.
This is an Aug. 25 photograph of Israeli soldiers and tanks in Stelot, Israel, near the northern border of the Gaza Strip. (Xinhua News Agency, photo by Jill Cohen Magen)
Lifting the blockade is imminent
At the end of this month, Egypt's General Intelligence Director General, Abbas Kamal, will travel to Tel Aviv and the West Bank for a new round of consultations with Palestinians and Israelis. The consultations are expected to address issues such as the extension of the ceasefire, the lifting of the blockade of the Gaza Strip and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
Salama Marouf, head of the Hamas Media Office, said that negotiations on lifting the blockade would certainly be difficult and could not be achieved overnight, but if Israel did not lift the blockade, the people of Gaza would not be self-sufficient, youth unemployment would remain above 50 per cent for a long time and it would only be a matter of time before the next round of conflict broke out.
Hussam Dajani, a professor of political science at the University of Uma in Gaza, said progress in Gaza's reconstruction depended on the political situation and current conditions. Although Israel has relaxed some controls and the traffic situation at the ports has improved, there is no guarantee that construction materials will be able to reach Gaza smoothly.
Dajani said ending Israel's years of blockade of the Gaza Strip and accelerating reconstruction plans are the solutions to prevent the situation from deteriorating. Internationally, the connivance and support of some countries, led by the United States, for Israel has compounded the reconstruction issue.