UN bodies call for improved access to building material in Gaza

Sixteen UN bodies have called for an increase in the flow of construction materials and funding into the Gaza Strip to improve the enclave’s humanitarian situation.

Around half of the residential buildings, which were partially destroyed during Israel’s 2014 war on the Strip, were renovated, while one third of those completely destroyed were reconstructed thanks to the UN, Palestinian government, NGOs, donors and with the help of the private sector, UN estimates show.

The report noted that all the UN-run clinics and schools were renovated or rebuilt, including 78 clinics and hospitals and 252 schools.

UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid and Development Activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Robert Piper warned that the situation in the Gaza Strip was bad before the 51-day Israeli offensive in 2014.

He called for intensifying development work in the Gaza Strip which witnessed three destructive Israeli wars between 2008 and 2014 that killed thousands of Palestinians, as well as caused the destruction of thousands of residential buildings, schools, mosques, clinics and universities.