Some 37 million tonnes of debris, at least 370,000 homes ruined, 90 per cent of health facilities damaged or destroyed, 90 per cent water supplies tainted – if the war on Gaza ended today, reconstruction from this toll could take until next century, according to a report released in May by the United Nations Development Programme.

‘The level of destruction in Gaza is such that the required assistance to rebuild would be on a scale not seen since 1948,’ the report noted. If the territory’s homes were rebuilt at the same pace as after the two previous assaults by Israel in 2014 and 2021, reconstruction is estimated to take 80 years. In the most optimistic scenario – of Israel admitting five times as much construction material as it has before – rebuilding all homes would take at least until 2040. With no functional economy or means of production or trade, Gaza will in any case be rendered dependent on external assistance in this project.