Gaza needs biggest post-war reconstruction effort since WWII, says UN

GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories The UN said on May 2 that the post-war reconstruction of Gaza would require an international effort unseen since the aftermath of World War II, estimating it could cost up to US$40 billion (S$54 billion).

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It came as Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh struck an optimistic tone over a possible truce and hostage release deal for Gaza, after weeks of largely stalled negotiations.

There have been reports of sticking points between the militant group and Israel nearly seven months into the war that has devastated the Palestinian territory.

But Mr Haniyeh, head of the militant group's Qatar-based political bureau, said in calls to Egyptian and Qatari mediators that Hamas was studying the latest proposal with a "positive spirit".

Much of Gaza has been reduced to a grey landscape of rubble and the UN estimated the cost of reconstruction at between US$30 billion and US$40 billion.

"The scale of the destruction is huge and unprecedented... this is a mission that the global community has not dealt with since World War II," UN assistant secretary-general Abdallah al-Dardari told a briefing in the Jordanian capital Amman.

He said: "Seventy-two per cent of all residential buildings have been completely or partially destroyed".

Reconstruction is made more difficult by the presence of large quantities of unexploded ordnance in the debris that triggers "more than 10 explosions every week", according to Gaza's Civil Defence agency.