In a television interview aired on Saturday, January 18, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty announced that Egypt is pushing for an international conference to rally support for Gaza’s reconstruction once the ceasefire is in place. The Strip now stands in ruins, suffering a level of destruction unmatched in any conflict since World War II, following more than 460 days of Israel’s relentless aggression against unarmed Palestinian civilians.
Egypt’s initiative to host this conference comes as the Gaza Strip faces an urgent need for regional and international collaboration to speed up reconstruction—an effort projected to cost more than $40 billion. This staggering figure surpasses the combined GDP of bothe the West Bank and Gaza by more than 229%.
The scale of the humanitarian crisis and the daunting reconstruction challenge demand that every country looking to join Gaza’s reconstruction must first assess its capabilities to ensure maximum impact in this historic mission, in which participating countries must work together to ensure a cohesive and effective rebuilding effort under the coordination of international organizations and the legitimate Palestinian Authority.
Egypt will spare no effort in standing by Gazans, leveraging its capabilities, expertise, and development tools to play a vital role in restoring critical sectors devastated over the past 14 months. Its efforts can play a crucial role in several areas, including:
1. Reconstruction Studies Planning: A September 2024 assessment by United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) revealed that the recent war destroyed 66% of Gaza’s buildings, displacing 1.9 million people and stripping them of shelter and essential services—making life in the Strip nearly impossible. Addressing this complex crisis requires thorough and precise studies to assess the state of the Gaza Strip and develop the best possible strategies for tackling key development priorities. These include rebuilding facilities and infrastructure, constructing both temporary shelters and permanent housing, restructuring the urban transportation system, and, most critically, clearing debris to enable effective urban replanning.
In this context, Egypt can leverage its national consulting firms, which have both local and international expertise in planning new residential communities and restructuring informal settlements. Over the past decade, Egyptian professionals have successfully developed plans for the construction of 24 new cities and implemented a comprehensive program to replace 356 unsafe, underserved informal areas with livable, well-planned communities that meet residents’ essential needs.
2. Clearing Rubble and Hazardous Explosives: The war left behind an estimated 40 to 50 million tons of rubble across the Strip. The United Nations estimates that removing it could take more than 20 years. This will be no ordinary cleanup effort—Gaza’s collapsed buildings are entangled with the remains of thousands of decomposing bodies, hazardous chemicals like white phosphorus and asbestos, and a potential 6,000 tons of unexploded ordnance buried within the debris and underground.
Egyptian contracting companies have prior experience in removing debris in Gaza, having undertaken similar efforts after the Israeli aggression in May 2021, which left 270,000 tons of debris. These companies can scale up the process, but they will need support from specialized teams for detecting and removing explosives, as well as teams for biological and chemical decontamination. Egypt has substantial expertise in both areas, having successfully cleared millions of mines and war remnants along the northwest coast and in Sinai, and having gained significant experience in large-scale disinfection of public spaces and buildings during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
3. Infrastructure and Facilities: The latest war led to the near-total collapse of Gaza’s infrastructure, largely due to deliberate Israeli destruction aimed at making the Strip unlivable and forcing its residents to flee. This systematic sabotage resulted in a 90% reduction in water supplies, the total shutdown of sewage treatment plants, widespread blackouts across most of the Strip, the destruction of 68% of the road network, and the obstruction of waste collection, with 80% of garbage unable to reach proper disposal sites.
Egypt can contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza’s infrastructure by rehabilitating road networks, rebuilding sewage treatment plants, restoring desalination facilities and damaged wells, and expanding drinking water and sewage networks. This effort will be guided by Egypt’s proven expertise in implementing large-scale development initiatives, particularly in underserved communities. A prime example is the National Project for the Development of Egyptian Villages, which, in its first phase, oversaw hundreds of infrastructure projects benefiting 18 million people in 1,477 villages.
4. Shelter and Housing: According to recent UN estimates, 92% of homes in the Gaza Strip have been either completely or partially destroyed, affecting around 436,000 residences and displacing 90% of the population. Many now live in makeshift tent camps or unsafe, unsanitary buildings, leading to outbreaks of infectious diseases, and, in some cases, tragic deaths among infants unable to survive the harsh climate and dire conditions of emergency shelters.
As part of the urgent response, Egypt can take on part of the urgent task of establishing temporary shelter camps using tent models approved by the UN, while also providing essential support facilities such as administrative offices, commercial and service areas, toilets, and sinks—tailored to the population size and specific needs of each camp. In the long run, Egypt can also contribute to rebuilding permanent housing, leveraging its expertise in large-scale social housing projects that have successfully provided affordable homes across the country.
5. Public Health and Psychological Support: Gaza’s health system is facing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, rarely seen in any conflict zone worldwide. Most of the Strip’s hospitals have been subjected to military attacks designed to terrorize patients and medical staff, rendering half of them completely inoperative. The remaining hospitals continue to function at a limited capacity despite severe damage. Additionally, 62% of primary care centers have been forced to shut down due to targeted attacks, along with critical shortages of medical personnel, equipment, and supplies.
The collapse of Gaza’s health system has severely disrupted basic medical services, especially to the 25% of war casualties—approximately 105,000 people—who now live with permanent disabilities. Additionally, 12,000 wounded individuals are suffering while awaiting urgent medical evacuation abroad, as the resources needed to treat their critical conditions are unavailable in Gaza’s devastated hospitals.
Egypt can take part in multiple medical initiatives to help ease the health crisis in Gaza. It can establish field hospitals and clinics in coordination with the World Health Organization, UNRWA, and other international organizations, complementing the global network of field hospitals to be established by other contributing countries. Additionally, Egypt take on the treatment of some critical patients still stranded in Gaza, set up prosthetic limb production centers, and send specialized psychological support teams—including trained practitioners and students from relevant disciplines—to aid the hundreds of thousands of war-affected children and adults.
6. Education and Culture: According to UN statistics, as of last September, over 87% of schools in Gaza had suffered severe damage, while the remaining schools sustained moderate to light destruction. This has deprived 625,000 children of their fundamental right to education, along with more than 88,000 university students, whose colleges were either partially or completely destroyed. The war’s impact extended beyond education to Gaza’s cultural heritage, with reports indicating that over 60% of heritage sites were destroyed, along with twelve archaeological and heritage museums, forty-four cultural centers, and a public library.
The current educational and cultural crisis in Gaza calls for Egypt’s support in rebuilding temporary learning spaces for schoolchildren and university students in theoretical disciplines, ensuring they do not lose another academic year. Meanwhile, students and professors from practical colleges can be accommodated in well-equipped Egyptian universities with the capacity to host incoming Palestinian college students. Additionally, Egypt can dispatch cultural experts and archaeological restorers to collaborate with UNESCO in restoring and reopening heritage sites, museums, cultural centers, and libraries damaged by shelling. Egypt can also send delegations of Islamic and Christian clerics to provide spiritual and social support to the affected communities.
7. Productive Sectors: Over the past year of war, the Gaza Strip has suffered devastating losses, with more than 67% of its agricultural land destroyed and nearly half (48%) of its agricultural infrastructure—irrigation wells, greenhouses, and more—damaged. The sector has also seen the widespread loss of livestock and the destruction of most fishing boats docked at Gaza’s port. Meanwhile, industrial and service activities have nearly collapsed, as the occupation army targeted the Strip’s only industrial zone, and banks and businesses were forced to shut down amid military operations and rampant looting.
As part of the reconstruction efforts, participating countries—including Egypt—should prioritize reclaiming destroyed agricultural lands and implementing modern, water-efficient irrigation technologies. Support should also be directed toward helping local citizens restart livestock and poultry farms, as well as reviving fish farming. Additionally, establishing industrial complexes for essential consumer goods and strengthening the construction sector will be crucial. In the coming years, this sector will play a key role in processing rubble for reuse and constructing new facilities. These strategic efforts will fast-track Gaza’s economic revival and pave the way for a quicker recovery from the war’s impact.
8. Strengthening the Security System: During the war, criminal gangs emerged, looting relief aid convoys and citizens’ property, exploiting the security vacuum created by the conflict. Some may have even collaborated with the occupation forces, whose aim was to block food and water from reaching defenseless Palestinians, exacerbating their suffering. If Gaza’s civil police force remains weak, these gangs are likely to continue their criminal activities.
To address this challenge, countries supporting reconstruction must assist the legitimate Palestinian authorities in training, equipping, and enhancing the skills of the Palestinian police to enable them to crack down on criminals and saboteurs while fulfilling their crucial role in border security and preventing smuggling operations to and from the Strip.
In conclusion, Egypt’s involvement will be central to many of the reconstruction and development initiatives needed in Gaza. It is essential to start planning Egypt’s involvement immediately, ensuring a swift transition to implementation once security and political conditions permit. With its geographical proximity to Gaza, along with its expertise, robust industrial base, and skilled human and technical resources, Egypt is well-equipped to play a leading role in post-war recovery efforts in Gaza.
