Gaza rebuild will take ‘a lot of time’, says UN official

The rebuilding of the devastated Palestinian territory will “take a dangerous time” despite an increase in humanitarian aid, the UN chief in Gaza has warned.

“We are not talking about food, health care, housing, roads, infrastructure. We have people, families, villages that need to be rebuilt,” Sam Rose, who is the director of the UN refugee agency for Palestine (UNRWA) in Gaza, told the BBC.

After the cease-fire agreement and the release of hostages between Israel and Hamas went into effect on Sunday, at least 1,545 aid vehicles crossed into Gaza, the UN said.

Trucks brought much-needed food, tents, blankets, mattresses and winter clothing that had been locked out of Gaza for months.

The cease-fire agreement reportedly calls for up to 600 vehicles, including 50 tankers, to be allowed into Gaza each day during the first six-week phase, during which Hamas must free 33 Israeli prisoners and return hundreds of Palestinian prisoners to Israeli prisons.

“We expect a huge increase in aid coming in, and it’s easy for us to go and get the aid because most of the problems we’ve had in the war go to the war. It’s going to stop,” Mr Rose said.

“We are no longer marching in conflict zones. We must not coordinate all these movements with the Israeli authorities,” he added. “And today we don’t have big problems with theft and robbery.”

But he also stressed that “we must move away from considering the needs of the people in Gaza as a function of the amount of aid”.

“Every person in Gaza is confused by what has gone. Everyone has lost something. Most of the houses are now destroyed, many roads are destroyed now,” he added. “It’s going to be a long time to rebuild and rebuild.”

The head of the World Health Organization, Hanan Balky, said that he has a 60-day plan to restore Gaza’s health on its food supply to meet the needs of the people and to prioritize the care of thousands of people with life-changing injuries.

The plan includes improving Gaza’s hospitals – half of which are not working and others are only partially functional – setting up temporary hospitals in the most vulnerable areas, tackling malnutrition and combating disease.

On Sunday night, UN chief Tom Fletcher warned that the needs of the Palestinian people in Gaza were “shocking”.

UN officials have previously blamed the humanitarian crisis on Israeli military restrictions on aid, weapons and violations of law and order.

Israel has insisted that there is no limit to the amount of aid that can be given to Gaza and has criticized UN agencies for failing to distribute resources. It also accuses Hamas of embezzling aid, which the group denies.

The Israeli army launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented border attack on 7 October 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 captured. Israel says 91 of the slaves are still slaves.

More than 47,000 people have been killed and 111,000 injured in Gaza since then, according to the region’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced multiple times, 60% of homes are estimated to have been damaged or destroyed, health care, water, sanitation and hygiene have collapsed, and there are severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter. .

In October, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) estimated that 1.84 million people in Gaza are facing severe food insecurity, and that 133,000 people are facing risks, which could lead to starvation and death.

The following month, the IPC committee warned that some areas of northern Gaza are facing severe famine.

Before the end, the UN said the northern villages of Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun had been cut off from food aid since the Israeli army launched an offensive in October aimed at preventing the resurgence of Hamas.

A Palestinian woman who returned to her damaged home in northern Gaza on Monday after the ceasefire was lifted was horrified by what she found after Israeli forces left.

“The whole area seems to have been affected by an earthquake due to the intensity of the violence,” Manal Abu al-Dragham told the BBC Arabic program Gaza Today.

“I will pitch my tent in the north no matter what… I don’t want to be removed from my country again.”

Rose said UNRWA teams in southern Gaza, where they live, could not cross into northern Gaza because the Israeli army had not opened the crossings to the east of the Netzarim corridor.

But he said UNRWA, as the largest humanitarian organization in Gaza, has networks with people on the ground who can help if given the chance.

However, UNRWA is facing Israeli restrictions that may make it impossible to operate in Gaza.

Two laws passed by Israel’s parliament, which are due to take effect next week, will ban the agency from operating in Israeli territory and prohibit Israeli government agencies from communicating with it.

Israel accused UNRWA of collaborating with Hamas and said 18 of its employees were involved in the October 7 attack. The agency has fired nine staff members who a UN investigation found may have been involved and has declared its commitment to politics.

The UN has said that UNRWA cannot be replaced in Gaza when the Commissioner General of the organization, Philippe Lazzarini, announced that thousands of his Palestinian workers in Gaza “will be saved” if the Israeli government follows the two orders, although “they will come.” great personal risk” for them.