UN: Gaza requires unprecedented reconstruction

Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS

The top U.N. official in the Mideast said Monday that Gaza will require massive reconstruction and proposed expanding a U.N.-Israeli system to import construction materials into the Palestinian territory.

Robert Serry told the U.N. Security Council that ending the blockade of Gaza and addressing Israel’s legitimate security needs have become even more urgent given “the unprecedented amount of destruction ... and the corresponding unprecedented level of humanitarian needs” suffered during the latest fighting between Israel and Hamas.

He said there are indications that “the volume of reconstruction will be about three times” what it was after the 2009 Hamas-Israel conflict.

Serry said approximately 16,800 housing units have been destroyed or severely damaged, affecting some 100,000 Palestinians. In addition, he said an estimated 108 installations belonging to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees were damaged along with the Gaza branch of his own office.

Serry said ways must be found to get large quantities of building materials, including cement, into Gaza “in a way that fulfills Israel’s security concerns.”

During the latest conflict, Israel discovered and destroyed dozens of cross-border tunnels. Israel has said it is willing, in principle, to ease Gaza border restrictions — but only with safeguards that prevent weapons or goods with possible military uses, such as cement for building tunnels and bunkers, from reaching Hamas.