Palestine: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has commenced a project to recycle Gaza’s war rubble into aggregates for use in repaving the territory’s roads and communal spaces, Reuters has reported. UNDP Gaza Head Alessandro Mrakic said that the organisation has removed 287,000t of a rubble of an estimated 61Mt and recycled close to 100% of this. Full clearance is estimated to take seven years provided there is accelerated and unimpeded access for heavy machinery and consistent fuel supplies. The United Nations, EU and World Bank have estimated the cost of recovery and reconstruction at US$71.4bn up to 2036.
Delivery of a US$7bn relief fund organised by the US-led Board of Peace has stalled following the outbreak of the on-going War in the Gulf. The US had pledged a further US$10bn and the UN US$2bn, while sporting body FIFA pledged US$75m for football-related initiatives. The International Court of Justice in the Netherlands previously found Israel liable for full reparations for its actions in its occupied territories in a June 2024 advisory opinion which Israel formally rejected.
