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Gaza infrastructure damages estimated at $18.5bn in UN-World Bank report

REUTERS
Wednesday, Apr 03, 2024

WASHINGTON: The Gaza Strip suffered about $18.5 billion in damages to critical infrastructure in the first four months of the Israeli bombardment launched in response to the Oct 7 Hamas attacks, according to a joint World Bank and the United Nations report released on Tuesday.

The interim damage assessment report, which received financial support from the European Union, estimates the damages are equivalent to 97 percent of the combined GDP of the West Bank and Gaza in 2022 and left 26 million tons of debris and rubble that would take years to remove.

The report details the scale of infrastructure destruction in the Israel-Gaza war and the dire state of the population in the narrow coastal enclave where health facilities have been shattered, the population is starving and aid work is hampered.

The report found that damage to structures affects every sector, with housing accounting for 72 percent of the costs and public service infrastructure such as water, health, and education accounting for 19 percent, according to a statement from the World Bank.

Over a million people are without homes and 75 percent of the population is displaced, the World Bank said, adding that more than half the population of Gaza is on the brink of famine and the entire population is experiencing acute food insecurity and malnutrition.

“Catastrophic cumulative impacts on physical and mental health have hit women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities the hardest, with the youngest children anticipated to be facing life-long consequences to their development,” the World Bank said.