By TIAMIYU PRUDENCE AROBANI

Around 70 billion dollars will be needed to reconstruct Gaza and make it safe after two years of war, UN development experts said on Tuesday.

At just 41 kilometres long and two to five kilometres wide, few places in the Gaza Strip had been left unscathed by the Israeli bombardment before the latest ceasefire on Friday.

UNDP Special Representative for the Palestinians, Jaco Cilliers, said destruction across the enclave “is now in the region of 84 per cent.

In certain parts of Gaza, like in Gaza City, it’s even up to 92 per cent.”

Cilliers said the findings of the latest Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (IRDNA) on Gaza by the UN, the EU and the World Bank, estimated the damage at 70 billion dollars.

To kickstart the massive operation, some 20 billion dollars will be required in the next three years alone, he said.

The UN development agency is present in Gaza alongside humanitarian partners to provide immediate support to the enclave’s 2.1 million people.

This includes providing clean water, emergency employment, medical supplies, solid waste removal and making homes and public spaces safe by clearing rubble potentially hiding unexploded ordnance or the many thousands of missing Palestinians.

The UNDP official pointed to “very good indications” from potential donors in support of reconstruction from Arab States but also from European nations and the United States.

He said the United States “has also indicated that they are going to be coming in supporting some of the early recovery efforts”.

On Monday, a ceasefire deal was signed between Hamas and Israel in Sharm El-Sheikh by U.S. President Donald Trump and the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and Turkïye.

The ceasef’re deal led to the release of the remaining 20 living Israeli hostages on Monday while Palestinian prisoners were released from Israel.

Earlier on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the release of all living hostages from Gaza, two years since they were among some 250 taken during Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023.

On Tuesday, the focus shifted to the transfer from Gaza of all deceased hostages, an extremely difficult process overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Only four deceased hostages have so far been transferred and it remains unclear how many deceased hostages will be transferred by Hamas.

The Israeli authorities have agreed to allow 190,000 tonnes of relief supplies into Gaza and UN agencies and their partners are scaling up operations rapidly. (NAN)