West Bank Archives - CrossFireArarbia

Roadmap: Gaza Needs $53 Billion to be Rebuilt

CrossFireArabia
February 18, 2025

Reconstruction and recovery needs in Gaza are estimated to require $53 billion, according to the Gaza & West Bank Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (IRDNA) released Tuesday. The report analyzes damages and losses as well as recovery and reconstruction needs across almost all sectors of the Palestinian economy based on data from October 2023-October 2024.

Rapid Damage and Needs Assessments follow a globally recognized methodology that has been applied in multiple contexts to inform recovery and reconstruction planning.
With on-ground access restrictions and the rapid pace at which the situation is evolving in Gaza, the IRDNA provides an interim estimate of the impacts and needs.
Damages to physical structures alone are estimated at about $30 billion.
- Housing was by far the hardest hit sector, accounting for 53% of total damages, followed by commerce and industry at 20%.
- Extensive damage to lifeline infrastructure such as health, water and transport is estimated at over 15% of the total damages.
Economic losses from reduced productivity, foregone revenues, and operating costs are estimated at $19 billion, with health, education and commerce bearing the biggest toll.
Some sectors face higher recovery needs than the value of the physical destruction sustained, such as the funding needed for the management of the between 41 to 47 million tons of rubble and debris.

Almost all sectors in Gaza have experienced a total halt in economic production. Prices in Gaza have soared over 300% in one year, with food prices alone up by 450%. Gaza’s economy is projected to have contracted by 83% in 2024, dropping its overall contribution to the economy to 3%, despite being home to 40% of the population in the Palestinian territories. The West Bank’s economy is also struggling and is projected to have shrunk by 16% in 2024.

🚨 New Report: The #IRDNA reveals $53B in recovery needs for #Gaza. Housing, health, education, and other sectors have suffered massive damage.

📖 Read more: https://t.co/DtyYN5YBp3 #GazaRecovery pic.twitter.com/FohXpYx88D
— United Nations Palestine (@UNinPalestine) February 18, 2025

The report, jointly produced by the World Bank Group, the United Nations and the European Union, puts forward a roadmap for sequencing recovery efforts along with their associated costs in the short and medium term. It underscores the importance of a closely coordinated multisectoral response involving all stakeholders. The report further notes that the speed, scale and scope of recovery and reconstruction will be shaped by factors such as governance arrangements, entry to and mobility within the Gaza Strip for people and goods, law and order, and safety and security.

Reliefweb

Opinion

Don’t be Distracted by Trump’s Bizarre Plan, Focus…

CrossFireArabia
February 18, 2025

By James J. Zogby

My initial response to President Donald Trump’s proposals for Gaza was to dismiss them as bizarre, detached from reality, dangerously provocative, illegal, and callously insensitive to Palestinian humanity.

His proposals are, in fact, all of the above. But because we know that this president is not a stupid man, it would be wise to assume that there may be a “method to his madness.” Not unlike Trump’s “shock and awe” Executive Order blitz that had his opponents and the media scrambling to understand his intentions, I believe that the same logic may be at work with his Gaza remarks. The logic has two essential components. The first is to disorient and demoralize his opponents. The second is to distract them—like a carnival hustler’s shell game—so we take our eyes off the real issues in front of us and focus instead on the illusion being created.

With this in mind, I do not believe for a minute that Trump intends to send US troops to take over Gaza to forcibly expel 1.5 million Palestinians. Nor will he be able to coerce Jordan and Egypt to receive and permanently resettle these expelled Palestinians, nor entice Saudi Arabia to pay to build Palestinians a “big new beautiful place.”

All these ideas are so far-fetched and dangerous that it is inconceivable that this president, who says he wants to keep America out of war and bring peace to the Middle East, will try to do any or all of them.

I may be attacked by some for trying to give President Trump the benefit of the doubt. To be clear, that is precisely what I am not doing. He may want to turn the page with the distractions of a bizarre plan for Gaza. But instead of taking the bait, we should continue to focus on what’s real. What I am saying is that instead of spending endless hours attempting to parse out his words or critique his plan or prepare for its implementation (which is exactly what he wants us to do), we should avoid the distraction and focus on the urgency of matters in front of us. The fragile ceasefire in Gaza must be maintained and the parties must move into its second and third phases. That means continuing to press for Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and plans to begin reconstruction. It means directing our attention and action to stopping Israel’s escalation of oppressive violence on the West Bank. And it means maintaining focus on the need to hold Israel and the US culpable for the war crimes committed during the past 15 months.

Neither President Trump nor Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu want us to act on any of these pressing matters. They want to further demoralise Palestinians while causing turmoil in Arab countries. They want the clock to run down on Phase One of the ceasefire plan. This would allow Netanyahu to resume his war to achieve what he calls “total victory” in Gaza. It would also ensure that he maintains his governing coalition and remains in office.

In other words, instead of addressing real problems crying for our attention, President Trump wants us to fall for his game by debating an illusory distraction while the Israelis pursue their deadly game right under our noses. 

James J. Zogby is a columnist in The Jordan Times

News

King Abdullah: No to Displacement

CrossFireArabia
February 17, 2025

Jordan’s King Abdullah II reiterated on Monday his firm opposition to the displacement of Palestinians.

His remarks came during a meeting with military retirees at the Royal Hashemite Court, according to a statement.

King Abdullah II in a meeting with veterans in Jordan today: “NO to displacement in Gaza and the West Bank.”
He added emphasizing that Gaza can be rebuilt without displacing its people.
pic.twitter.com/dMYsrEm41t
— Taghreed Risheq (@taghreedrisheq) February 17, 2025

“For 25 years, I have been saying no to displacement, no to resettlement, no to the alternative homeland,” the court quoted the monarch as saying, denouncing “those who question these firm positions.”

He also reiterated “the importance of de-escalation in the West Bank,” highlighting that “achieving just peace on the basis of the two-state solution is the only way to guarantee stability in the region,” according to Anadolu.

The Jordanian monarch underscored that “preserving Jordan’s interest and stability and protecting Jordan and Jordanians are above all considerations,” stressing the importance of rebuilding Gaza “without displacing Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.”

Trump hosted Jordan’s King Abdullah at the White House last week, renewing his insistence that Gazans be relocated and the enclave controlled by the US to be redeveloped into a tourist area.

The ceasefire deal has been in place in Gaza since Jan. 19, pausing Israel’s genocidal war that has killed nearly 48,300 Palestinians and left the enclave in ruins.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

News

Israel to Build 1000 Settlement Units Near Bethlehem

CrossFireArabia
February 17, 2025

The Israeli government issued a tender to build nearly 1,000 settlement units in the occupied West Bank, an anti-settlement group said on Monday.

The Peace Now group, an Israeli watchdog that monitors settlement building in the West Bank, said 974 additional settler homes will be built in Efrat settlement south of Bethlehem city.

It warned that the construction of an entire neighborhood in the Efrat settlement “blocks the development of the Bethlehem metropolis to the south, and if Israel seeks to annex it to Israel, it will cut off the entire southern West Bank,” according to Anadolu.

The Israeli organization accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of harming Israel’s interests and undermining the two-state solution through imposing realities on the ground.

“While the people of Israel sets their sights on the release of the hostages and an end to the war, the Netanyahu government is operating ‘on steroids’ to establish facts on the ground that will destroy the chance for peace and compromise,” it said.

Nineteen Israeli captives and five Thai workers have been released in exchange for 1,135 Palestinian prisoners under a Gaza ceasefire agreement that took effect on Jan. 19.

The international community, including the UN, considers the Israeli settlements illegal under international law. The UN has repeatedly warned that continued settlement expansion threatens the viability of a two-state solution, a framework seen as key to resolving the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

News

Israel Displaces 40,000 Palestinians in West Bank

CrossFireArabia
February 11, 2025

The forced displacement of Palestinian communities in the northern West Bank is escalating at an alarming pace.

Since the start of operation “Iron Wall” by the Israeli Forces on 21 January, several refugee camps have been nearly emptied of their residents. The operation, ongoing for nearly three weeks, is now the single longest in the West Bank since the second intifada.

Starting in Jenin Camp, the operation has expanded to Tulkarm, Nur Shams, and El Far’a refugee camps and led to the displacement of 40,000 Palestine Refugees.

The Israeli Forces began carrying out large-scale operations in the occupied West Bank in mid-2023. Since then, thousands of families have been forcibly displaced.  Repeated and destructive operations have rendered the northern refugee camps uninhabitable, trapping residents in cyclical displacement. In 2024, more than 60 per cent of displacement was a result of Israeli Forces operations, absent any judicial orders.

Forced displacement in the occupied West Bank is the result of an increasingly dangerous and coercive environment. The use of air strikes, armoured bulldozers, controlled detonations, and advanced weaponry by the Israeli Forces has become commonplace – a spillover of the war in Gaza. Such militarised approaches are inconsistent with the law enforcement context of the occupied West Bank, where there have been at least 38 airstrikes in 2025 alone.

Palestinian armed groups are also increasingly active in the northern West Bank, deploying improvised explosive devices inside refugee camps, including near UNRWA facilities and civilian infrastructure. They have engaged in violent clashes with both Israeli and Palestinian Forces. From December 2024 onwards, Palestinian Forces operations further exacerbated displacement from Jenin camp.

UNRWA reiterates that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected at all times and that collective punishment is never acceptable.

Jenin Camp stands empty today, evoking memories of the second intifada. This scene stands to be repeated in other camps. Under the Knesset laws implemented on 30 January, UNRWA no longer has any contact with the Israeli authorities, making it impossible to raise concerns about civilian suffering or the urgent need for the delivery of humanitarian assistance. This puts at grave risk the lives of Palestine Refugees and the UNRWA staff that serve them.

UNRWA