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Gaza: 1,500 housing units destroyed by Israel in 2014 still to be rebuilt

July 11, 2020 at 1:44 pm

Palestinian girls play on the rubble of a house, which was destroyed during the 50-day war between Israel and Hamas militants in the summer of 2014, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on 29 July, 2015 [Abed Rahim Khatib/ApaImages]

More than 1,500 housing units in the Gaza Strip have not yet been rebuilt since their destruction during the Israeli offensive on the coastal enclave in 2014, Palestinian MP Jamal Al-Khodari, head of the Popular Committee Against the Siege disclosed on Friday.

In a statement sent to mass media, Al-Khodari announced that the suffering of the residents whose homes were destroyed in 2014 is “complex” as they suffer from a lack of homes and from the consequences of the 14-year-long Israeli siege on Gaza.

Al-Khodari also added that more than 500 factories were seriously damaged during the Israeli offensive, noting that 85 per cent of these factories were: “Completely paralysed due to the retention of the Israeli siege.”

READ: 90% of homes in Gaza destroyed by Israel ‘have been rebuilt’

“Despite the end of the Israeli offensive, its repercussions are still continuous,” he stated, noting that the situation in the Gaza Strip is “exceptional and tragic”.

He added that the owners of the factories destroyed during the Israeli offensives have still not received compensation, which is paid only for residential buildings.

Al-Khodari pointed out that the outbreak of the coronavirus along with the continuous Israeli siege have “perpetuated the suffering” of the Palestinians in Gaza and “aggravated their tragedy.”

End Gaza Siege! – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]