Gaza post-war housing reconstruction to cost at least $20b: Palestine Investment Fund chairman
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A girl looks on at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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DAVOS – At least US$15 billion (S$20.15 billion) would be needed to rebuild housing in the Gaza Strip, Palestine Investment Fund chairman Mohammed Mustafa said on Jan 17 at the World Economic Forum, after much of the besieged enclave was flattened by Israel’s war on Hamas militants.
The Palestinian leadership would, in the short term, continue to focus on humanitarian aid including food and water, but eventually the focus would shift to reconstruction, Mr Mustafa added.
The war has driven most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people from their homes, some of them several times, and caused a humanitarian crisis, with food, fuel and medical supplies running low.
“If the war in Gaza continues, more people are likely to die of hunger or famine than war,” Mr Mustafa said.
The first steps should be to bring food, medicine, water and electricity back to the besieged enclave, he added.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza since the Oct 7 Hamas assault
