GAZA (Dispatches) – The United Nations said the reconstruction of war-torn Gaza will demand “an awful lot of time”, even as humanitarian aid begins to flow into the region following a truce agreement between the Zionist regime and Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.
Acting director of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza, Sam Rose said on Tuesday underscored the urgent need to address the broader humanitarian, social, and economic challenges facing Gaza’s residents.
“We’re not just talking about food, healthcare, buildings, roads, and infrastructure. We’ve got individuals, families, communities that need to be rebuilt,” Rose told the BBC.
Following a ceasefire and a prisoner release agreement between the occupying regime and Hamas that took effect on Sunday, the UN reported that over 1,545 aid trucks have entered Gaza.
Rose noted that the cessation of active conflict has allowed for smoother aid distribution, eliminating the need for coordination with the Zionist regime’s authorities. 
“We’ve not today... faced any major problems with looting and criminality,” he stated.
He cautioned against viewing the situation in Gaza solely through the lens of aid volume, noting that the scale of destruction is staggering.
According to a UN damage assessment, clearing more than 50 million tons of rubble left in the aftermath of bombardment could take 21 years and cost up to $1.2bn.
A UN report from October had said rebuilding Gaza’s shattered homes could take at least until 2040 but drag on for many decades. The debris is believed to be contaminated with asbestos because some refugee camps struck during the war are known to have been built with the material.
Data from the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) revealed that two-thirds of Gaza’s pre-war structures—over 170,000 buildings—have been damaged or destroyed, representing about 69% of all structures in the territory. Currently, over 1.8 million people are in urgent need of emergency shelter.
In terms of infrastructure damage, a UN/World Bank report estimated that as of end-January 2024, the total cost of destruction across residential, commercial, and essential service sectors had reached $18.5 billion, with damage continuing to escalate since that time.