UNRWA: Gaza to take "years" to rebuild under 23 million tonnes of rubble

The war on Gaza has resulted in around 23 million tons of rubble and unexploded weapons all over the area as UNRWA took to X to say that it will “take years” before Gaza is safe again.

Moreover, a report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in January indicated that rebuilding Gaza and restoring its 0.4 percent growth per year seen over the past 15 years would factually take 70 years, confirming that enormous amounts of aid would be needed to make Gaza at least habitable, Al Mayadeen reports.

In the latest update, the UN Aid Coordination Office, OCHA, reported violence “across much of the Gaza Strip, particularly in the Hamad area of Khan Younis…The hostilities are causing further civilian casualties, displacement and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.”

“Larger-scale assessments are urgently required, but response efforts have been hampered by restrictions on the import of humanitarian mine action supplies and authorization requirements for the deployment of specialized personnel,” it added.

This comes as Adnan Abu Hasna, a media advisor for the UNRWA, said that the situation in the Gaza Strip was "miserable" and that "the food shortage is a major catastrophe." He added that the aid that has been airdropped into the Strip was not enough nor was it reaching all of those who need it.

Abu Hasna stressed the need for immediate food and water supplies to be sent to the Gaza Strip, warning that malnutrition is becoming a serious problem, especially in the southern part of the Strip.

Israel has not only blocked aid from entering the Strip but has also blatantly targeted a gathering of starved Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid packages on Thursday at the Kuwait Roundabout in southern Gaza, Al Mayadeen's correspondent had reported.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported earlier this week that a ship carrying almost 200 tons of food for Gaza departed a port in Cyprus in a pilot project attempting to unlock a new sea route for aid delivery into Gaza.

The charity ship by Open Arms launched its 200-mile(320 km) trip from Larnaca port in Cyprus, towing a barge containing flour, rice, and protein.