The Palestinian Authority announced a $67 billion, five-year, multi-phase plan to address humanitarian needs, infrastructure, and housing. It's not even a good start.
The UN estimates that removing the 50–60 million tons of rubble could take up to two decades. Then there's the unexploded ordinance, the massive amounts of asbestos that must be disposed of, and the burning question of who will pay for this mess.
"I don't think there's any modern comparison to what's going to need to happen in the Gaza Strip right now," said Hady Amr, the former U.S. representative for Palestinian affairs from 2022 until 2025. "The level of destruction and devastation is just absolutely immense."
"Modern" is a relative term. Germany, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Belgium all had equally severe damage after World War II and had "recovered" (also a relative term) by 1952.
Those nations had the United States giving them loans at par or slightly below. The Marshall Plan provided around $13 billion (equivalent to over $130 billion today) in grants and loans to help rebuild Europe. Those loans have all been paid off, some with interest.
There were huge differences between Gaza and post-war Europe. Gaza does not have a stable government that can be relied on not to steal every penny from whoever is dumb enough to loan them money.
Hamas and Hezbollah won't like the U.S. and the West giving out loans to rival Palestinian factions. And the U.S. and most Western countries will not give any loans to a government led by either terrorist group. Hence, it's going to be so long, and thanks for all the fish, as the terrorists will be forced to rely on Saudi Arabia and other oil potentates for the money to rebuild.
But the Saudis and other Arabs are using Israel's lack of enthusiasm for the two-state solution as an excuse not to pony up to rebuild their fellow Arabs' cities. They say that until there's progress on giving the Palestinians a homeland, they'll keep their money.
"With the rubble and the massive destruction, there is also concern that there are a number of victims, of bodies, that are buried in that rubble -- they would also need to be exhumed," Mona Yacoubian, the director and senior adviser of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told ABC News.
About 83% of all buildings in Gaza City alone were damaged as of Sept. 23, according to the United Nations Satellite Center. About 40% of those buildings were destroyed.
"Imagine not just your house was destroyed, your block was destroyed, your neighborhood was destroyed, but 80 to 90% of the universe that you have access to," Amr said.
Schools, hospitals, as well as water and electricity infrastructure have all been devastated during the two-year war from Israel’s extensive military campaign on the Gaza Strip, Amr said.
"It's just going to be incredibly difficult for people to just even continue to survive while the reconstruction takes place," Amr said.
Hamas has regained "interim" control of Gaza as Trump reluctantly bowed to the reality that there was no one else who could keep order. The Gaza "militias" are at war with Hamas and are too weak to govern, even if Hamas didn't try to kill anyone who would attempt to take control.
Hamas has deployed 7,000 security forces across Gaza, staging public executions and clashing with rival clans accused of looting and collaborating with Israel.
As basic services collapse, Palestinians in the territory face a fragile security vacuum.
While some welcome the return of order, others fear renewed repression.
Hamas has signaled willingness to cede governance, if Israel offers guarantees.
That was a safe promise from Hamas because Israel will never offer any guarantees as they relate to Hamas. Hamas will be running the Gaza Strip until Israel blows them away, never to return.
