Lana Barreto: Gaza Strip recovery will require over $70 billion

More than 370,000 housing units have been destroyed in the Gaza Strip, while recovery needs exceed $70 billion.

Report informs that Lana Barreto of Brazil, global shelter and settlements adviser at the Norwegian Refugee Council, said this during WUF13 in Baku.

She noted that even before the current escalation, many homes damaged in 2014 had still not been restored.

"Since October 2023, Gaza has experienced large-scale destruction of housing, schools, infrastructure, services and public spaces. More than 370,000 housing units have been damaged or destroyed, and about 1.2 million people have been forced to leave their homes," the NRC representative said.

According to her, repeated displacement has become part of Palestinians' daily life, while the current crisis cannot be viewed solely as a humanitarian catastrophe.

"It is also a crisis of urban governance and housing, land and property rights, where decisions made as part of emergency response are already shaping the future of recovery," she stressed.

The NRC representative added that Gaza lacks a clear transition between the stages of emergency shelter, early recovery and reconstruction, while people continue to live in temporary shelters, damaged buildings and overcrowded premises amid constant displacement.