Rebuilding Gaza is a Massive Task

The rebuilding process in the Gaza Strip following 15 months of Israeli bombardment will “take an awful lot of time” despite the promised surge in humanitarian deliveries, a UN official in Gaza has warned.

“We’re not just talking about food, healthcare, buildings, roads, infrastructure. We’ve got individuals, families, communities that need to be rebuilt,” Sam Rose, acting director of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza, told the BBC.

“We’re expecting a major uptick in the volume of aid that’s coming in, and of course it’s far easier for us to go and collect that aid because many of the problems that we have faced so far in the war go away when the fighting stops,” Rose said.

But he also stressed that “we have to get away from thinking of people’s needs in Gaza as a function of the volume of aid”.

“Every person in Gaza has been traumatised by what’s gone on. Everyone has lost something. Most of those homes are now destroyed, most of the roads are now destroyed,” he added. “It’s going to be a long, long process of rehabilitation and rebuilding.”

The World Health Organization’s regional director, Hanan Balkhy, meanwhile said it had a 60-day plan to get Gaza’s health system back on its feet to meet the population’s urgent needs and prioritize care for the thousands of people with life-changing injuries.

The plan includes repairing Gaza’s hospitals – half of which are out of service and the others are only partially functional – setting up temporary clinics in the hardest-hit areas, addressing malnutrition and controlling disease outbreaks.

Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has also been displaced multiple times, 60% of buildings are estimated to be damaged or destroyed, the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed, and there are severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.

In October, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) estimated 1.84 million people across Gaza were experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, and that 133,000 people were facing catastrophic levels, which can lead to starvation and death.

The following month, an IPC committee warned that there was a strong likelihood that famine was “imminent” in some areas of northern Gaza.

Before the ceasefire, the UN said the besieged northern towns of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun had been largely cut off from food assistance since the Israeli military launched a ground offensive and siege in October according to the Quds News Network.

CrossFireArabia

CrossFireArabia

Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

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Fires Continue to Rage in Israel

Israeli newspaper Maariv reported, Friday, that fires swept the country resumed in fully force at the western suburbs of Jerusalem.

“Hours after the massive fire in the Latrun area (between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv) was brought under control, the fire resumed in the area today.”

Maariv added that Israeli firefighting crews rushed to the scene in a bid to put out the burning flames.

But, the Israeli Fire Authority said in a post on the X platform that: “There are no dramatic events currently in the fire zones in Jerusalem.”

It added: “Several points of smoke rising are being monitored, and firefighting forces and aircraft continue to work to bring the fires under control.”

On Thursday evening, Israel announced that it had brought under control the fires that swept through the area between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, about 30 hours after they broke out and consumed approximately 20,000 dunams.

Hebrew media outlets, including the official broadcasting authority, reported that the fires were likely caused by “the negligence of hikers,” rather than by arson.

Contrary to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s accusation that individuals started them, Channel 12 reported that “the central fires in the Jerusalem Hills were not set deliberately and are believed to be the result of negligence.”

Authorities are investigating the cause of the fires in the same area where similar, less intense blazes occurred last week.

The Times of Israel news website quoted President Isaac Herzog as saying, Thursday: “This fire is part of the climate crisis that must not be ignored. It requires us to prepare for serious and significant challenges and to make decisions, including appropriate legislation.”

The fires between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the largest in years, have forced the evacuation of 10 towns and settlements and have spread due to high temperatures and strong winds in the forested area as reported in Anadolu.

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Fires Rage in Israel

Fires are raging in Israel. Flames have started in the West Jerusalem hills and are feared to be creeping into northern and mass Israel with around 119 fire crews, 10 firefighting planes, and a helicopter deployed to attempt to extinguish the blaze according to The Jerusalem Post.

Israel has asked for international help especially from countries like Italy, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus and Bulgaria to attempt to put down the raging fires that are spreading because of high winds. Later reports, and with the inability to contain the fires, Israel called for more help from England, France, Czech Republic, Sweden, Argentina, Spain, North Macedonia, and Azerbaijan.

The wild fires that started, Wednesday, are trending on the social media with images and videos of what are seen as apocalyptic scenes never seen before in Israel. The blazes, starting from the hills of western Jerusalem have spread to the areas of Tel Aviv in the north with up to eight Israeli municipalities affected with one blogger simply saying “Israel is burning.”

Reports show that people on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway abandoning their cars and running across the wilderness, anywhere, away from the raging fires consuming forests and natural habitats. Reports also suggest that 10,000 Israeli have been evacuated by over-worked Israeli firefighters who fear the battle will be long.

The highway as well as trains between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have since been closed because of the consuming danger.

As soon as they started, Israeli government officials quickly declared a national state of emergency as raging fires spread to settlements and military bases near Jerusalem with soldiers caught in the blazes with reports that blazes raged in 29 locations such as Nataf, Eshtaol, Ramat Raziel, Giv’at Ye’arim, and Kisalon.

The fires from Jerusalem have also moved south and west due to the raging winds and weather conditions with the Israeli army being deployed to assist firefighting teams as the fires latched on to cars and other vehicles. New blazes have been reported to as far away as in Ashkelon, Ashdod and its port and bordering to the so-called Gaza envelope the territory that houses Jewish settlements and military basis.

The speed winds in Israel are expected to increase dramatically in the coming hours and days with Israeli hospitals recording 12 injuries so far due to smoke inhalation and burns. For the first time in 77 years, Israeli local councils have canceled so-called Independence Day celebrations that is when Israel was created in 1948 on Palestinians lands.

Nobody really knows how the fires have started while Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir rushed to accuse local Palestinians of arson but this is hearsay.

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Fires Continue to Rage in Israel

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