Rebuilding post-war Gaza: will the displaced return home?

Ramallah (Quds News Network) – The Financial Times recently published a report compiled by its correspondents in London, Cairo, and Gaza, addressing the economic and infrastructural devastation in the Gaza Strip. The report raises questions for war survivors about whether there is anything worth returning to after the end of the Israeli aggression.

The report highlights the perspective of Faisal Al-Shawa, a Palestinian from Gaza, who has witnessed both the best and worst of what Gaza has to offer. Three decades ago, as a young man filled with optimism, Al-Shawa joined the crowds welcoming the leader Yasser Arafat.

This occurred in the summer of 1994, ten months after the signing of the Oslo Accords by the Palestine Liberation Organization, which many hoped would lead to a permanent resolution to the long-standing conflict. Arafat promised a “free and democratic homeland,” and for a brief period, Gaza became the political base of the Palestinian Authority.

Recalling those times, Al-Shawa remarks, “Finally, we no longer saw Israeli soldiers on the ground in Gaza, and that was wonderful.” The following year, he returned with support from his father and a civil engineering degree from the United States, convinced that Gaza would prosper.

However, his optimism waned as the peace process collapsed, leading to cycles of violence, recovery, and costly reconstruction. Despite the challenges, Al-Shawa clung to hope, investing in various ventures. His construction company became the foundation for a larger empire, encompassing brick and asphalt factories, residential projects, poultry farms, and citrus and olive orchards.

The report notes that Al-Shawa, now at his lowest morale, was forced to leave his home. Angry and unable to comprehend the destruction caused by Israeli bombs and bulldozers in the past few months, he states, “We have lost our wealth, and now we are refugees with no money or land. We can’t even take our clothes from home, let alone our investments and factories.” He added, “Today, everything is destroyed.”

Poor and rich alike

The report emphasized that all Gazans, whether rich or poor, young or old, suffer from the relentless airstrikes and the ground operation against Hamas in Gaza. Almost every family has lost a relative or friend, with the Palestinian officials estimating the death toll since the Israeli attack in October to be around 22,000, mostly women and children. The situation leaves many pondering whether Gaza can truly recover and whether the displaced will find a reason to return to a place that has been deeply scarred by conflict.

In addition to the escalating death toll, the sheer magnitude of destruction has profoundly shaken the people of Gaza, according to the report. Everyday life elements and institutions, such as schools, libraries, bakeries, and other businesses, have been obliterated. Many Gazans fear that there will be nothing left to return to once the cannons fall silent. Some have reached the conclusion that the primary goal of the Israeli military campaign is to render the region uninhabitable, forcing its residents to abandon the land they consider their homeland.

Al-Shawa states, “They want to make Gaza uninhabitable” and “Even if they allow us to return tomorrow, how will we live? They have destroyed our homes, investments, factories, trees, infrastructure, and everything.”

The report indicates that some in the extreme-right Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu talk about voluntary resettlement of Gazans. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told the Israeli Army Radio, “If there were between 100,000 – 200,000 Arabs in Gaza and not two million, then the discussion about the day after the war would change.” Many Gazans suspect that Israel’s goal is to push them southward into Egypt.

In the early days of the war, the Netanyahu government attempted to convince European leaders to pressure Egypt to allow Gazans to enter its territory. Egypt strongly rejected the proposals, but concerns persist about creating a new catastrophe akin to the 1948 Nakba, which displaced over 70,000 Palestinians.

Among Gaza’s population are 1.7 million descendants of those who fled their homes 75 years ago, recognized by the United Nations as refugees. Some Gazans, like Al-Shawa, managed to leave the Strip with their foreign passports, heading towards Egypt. However, those remaining in the enclave are displaced, without homes and trapped between Israeli attacks and closed borders due to the blockade.

Within Gaza, 85% of the 2.3 million residents, half of whom are under eighteen, have been forced to leave their homes. They now inhabit crowded residential buildings, schools, hospitals, and UN-utilized structures in the south. Gazans, as the report puts it, have grown accustomed to picking up the pieces. After the hopes of Oslo, the collapse of peaceful processes, and the outbreak of the Second Intifada, Gaza’s buildings and infrastructure suffered strikes.

Gazans were restricted from working in Israel, and the movement of goods into the territory was constrained. When Israel completely withdrew from certain areas in 2005, maintaining control over the air and borders, except for the border with Egypt spanning 12 kilometers, Hamas won the elections in 2006.

In 2007, Hamas ousted the Palestinian Authority, and Israel imposed a complete blockade, strangling the economy ever since. The per capita share of Gaza’s GDP fell by 27% to $1,257 between 2006 and 2022, according to UNCTAD, the United Nations body responsible for trade and development.

Two third of Gazans already rely on international aid

The report highlights that three-quarters of the population in Gaza depended on international aid, with the unemployment rate reaching 44%. However, life continued in a certain way amid the suffering in the enclave, with businessmen, academics, and those working for international organizations enjoying acceptable living standards. All of this changed after Hamas launched an attack on Israel.

The Israeli response was a massive bombing campaign aimed at eradicating Hamas, followed by a ground offensive initially focused on northern Gaza before expanding with the same intensity to the south.

Even if the war were to cease tomorrow, the extent of the destruction means that Gazans would face a challenge in resuming their daily lives. According to the United Nations, 60% of residential units in Gaza have been destroyed, along with hundreds of schools, dozens of mosques, thousands of businesses, and half of Gaza’s hospitals ceasing operations.

Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta, a British-Palestinian surgeon who worked in Gaza, comments, “The healthcare system has been dismantled systematically, and you can see how hospitals are being dismantled one after another.” He added, “Will Israel allow building materials into Gaza? This is beyond the Palestinians’ capacity and requires international intervention.”

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, describes the situation as a “war of all against preferential formulas,” adding that “the level of destruction is staggering.”

The report also mentions that civil service workers who were displaced fear becoming targets, leaving government offices deserted except for health and emergency workers. Israeli officials suggest that the war will continue for months, raising uncertainties about the fate of Hamas and who will assume responsibility for internal security.

Reconstruction requires billions of dollars

According to estimates from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the reconstruction of the enclave will cost billions of dollars, surpassing the modest cost of the 2014 war, which the IMF set between $3-6 billion for the reconstruction of damages.

Gaza is in need of its own Marshall Plan, but the source of such funding remains uncertain. An Arab diplomat stated that Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE will contribute to the post-war reconstruction, but they will only invest after assessing the post-war situation.

The report adds that Israel claims to have killed more than 8,000 Hamas fighters, one-third of its fighting force consisting of 30,000 militants. Meanwhile, rocket launches from Gaza towards Israel have decreased.

However, Hamas continues to fight, holding hostages, and its leaders remain out of Israel’s reach. There is much skepticism regarding the defeat of Hamas or its ideology. Abu Saada states, “Hamas has not surrendered and will not surrender” and “this is a group that will not give up easily.”