During the implementation of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, the United Nations has carried out ruins clearing in the Gaza Strip. Jaco Silles, an official of the United Nations Development Program, said that the total amount of ruins that need to be cleared in the entire Gaza Strip may be between 55 million tons and 60 million tons, and the estimated reconstruction cost is approximately US $70 billion.

Special Representative of the United Nations Development Programme for the Palestinian People¡¯s Aid Programme, Jacques Chirac:Similar to what is going on behind me, the total amount of debris to be cleared (across the Gaza Strip) is between 55 million and 60 million tons. The first priority is to clear roads so people can enter hospitals, schools, and other social buildings. The main debris that needs to be cleared is concentrated in these places.

The unexploded bombs of the bodies of the victims pose hidden dangers to the cleanup work

The United Nations estimates that about 84% of the buildings in the Gaza Strip are currently damaged. In some areas such as Gaza City, the damage ratio is even as high as 92%. The total amount of ruins in the Gaza Strip is equivalent to the total volume of 13 Giza pyramids in Egypt. At present, the United Nations has cleared about 81,000 tons of rubble, equivalent to the carrying capacity of 3,100 trucks, less than 0.15% of the total rubble. In addition, Silles also pointed out that there are many bodies of victims and unexploded bombs mixed in the ruins, which increases the difficulty of the current clean-up work and brings potential safety hazards. The International Organization for Disabled Persons warned on the 14th that since the outbreak of a new round of large-scale Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Israeli army has dropped a total of about 70,000 tons of explosives on the Gaza Strip, and unexploded ordnance has brought huge risks to Gaza people returning home. Environmental experts also warned that the rubble in the ruins may be contaminated by asbestos, industrial chemicals and heavy metals, and if it cannot be cleaned up quickly, it will threaten the survival of Palestinians.

According to the Rapid Damage and Demand Assessment, released jointly by the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank, the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip is expected to cost about $70 billion and will cost more than $20 billion in the first phase of the reconstruction in the next three years alone, which may take decades to fully resolve the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.