RAMALLAH: World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic has reported that the Israeli war on Gaza, going on since October 7 of last year, has caused unprecedented destruction, according to a report by Anadolu agency.
The war in Gaza has resulted in unprecedented levels of destruction, Jasarevic said, stressing that between 70 to 80% of civilian infrastructure, including homes, hospitals, schools, water, and sanitation facilities, has been destroyed or severely damaged.
Jasarevic said it will take decades to repair the infrastructure in Gaza, including the health system that is barely surviving.
The UN Environment Program estimates that it will take anywhere between three to 12 years to only clear the debris and explosive remnants of the war, Jasarevic recalled, and continued: ‘United Nations Conference on Trade and Development estimates that it will take tens of billions of dollars and decades to reverse the overall economic damage, including to rebuild the health system which is on its knee
s.’
‘Only 13 out of 36 hospitals are partially or minimally functioning in Gaza, the majority of them being located in the south of Gaza,’ he further said.
Jasarevic, citing a UN report, noted that if the fighting were to stop immediately, reconstruction were to start right away, and the 2007-2022 growth trend were to persist, it would take until 2092 just to restore Gaza’s gross domestic product levels in 2022.
The Israeli aggression on Gaza has pushed 85% of the besieged territory’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
For the first time since its creation in 1948, Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, the highest judicial body of the United Nations, over its Gaza war.
An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilian
s in Gaza, a prerequisite that Israel has failed to comply with so far.
Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA