Dina Mahmoud (Gaza, London)
As the war in the Gaza Strip approaches the completion of its third month, the fears of the Palestinians there are mounting, that the battles will lead to irreversibly changing the picture of life in their cities and towns, in light of the massive amount of destruction that has been inflicted on the local economy and infrastructure of the Strip since the seventh. From October last year.
Palestinian officials confirm that the war has harmed all residents of Gaza, whether they are rich or poor, noting that almost all families in the Strip have lost a relative or friend, after the death toll reached more than 22 thousand people, the majority of whom are women and children. .
The battles also forced more than 85% of the population of 2.3 million people to flee their homes.
In addition, the war undermined various components of the lives of Palestinians in Gaza, from schools and hospitals to workshops, companies, stores, government agencies, bakeries, and other basic and economic infrastructure facilities, which prompted many residents to say that they feel terrified, because they feel that there will be nothing to return to. When the war finally ends.
They fear that one of the goals of the current war is to make the Gaza Strip uninhabitable, which would indirectly force them to completely flee from it, especially after a large number of the population has now become crowded in the southern regions, where they reside in tents. improvised shelters, temporary shelters, or even residential buildings, which are overcrowded.
According to international estimates, the battles led to the destruction or damage of more than 60% of the residential buildings in the Strip, along with the destruction of hundreds of schools, mosques, roads, and bakeries.
And thousands of shops and other economic establishments.
As for the health system, it was dismantled, according to doctors, in a systematic manner, which led to more than half of the hospitals in Gaza being out of service.
The British Financial Times newspaper quoted analysts as saying that “Gaza needs to build everything from scratch,” after the war made it a copy of German cities, which were almost completely destroyed during World War II (1939-1945), amid There are fears that the reconstruction bill for the Strip will reach astronomical amounts, in light of the smaller-scale confrontations that broke out there in 2014, causing damage ranging between three and six billion dollars.
This means that the residents of Gaza will face enormous challenges in order to resume their normal lives if, by some miracle, the war stops tomorrow. The current situation threatens hundreds of thousands of residents of the Gaza Strip, facing famine in every sense of the word.
Moreover, more than 75% of the people of Gaza were already dependent on international aid, even before the outbreak of fighting, amid unemployment rates that reached 44% at the time.
Analysts say that the Gaza Strip will need a huge reconstruction plan similar to the Marshall Plan, which was launched by the United States to pump life into the arteries of Europe after World War II, which requires first raising hope in the possibility of achieving a two-state solution, so that funding can be raised. necessary for that plan, and to ensure that what will be rebuilt will not be destroyed in the event of renewed confrontations.
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