The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it would take decades to rebuild the war-torn Gaza Strip if the reconstruction progress continued at its current slow pace.
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Head of the Red Cross in Gaza Mamadou Sow stated in a recent report that six months after the Israeli war on Gaza, tens of thousands of its population continue to suffer, with little or no help to rebuild their lives.
"Without viable shelter and essential infrastructure, heavy winter storms at the end of 2014 and beginning of 2015 have further exacerbated the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip."
"Progress on reconstruction has been agonizingly slow, while the economic slowdown and damage to homes, and water and sanitation systems all combine to make the daily lives of Gazans extremely tough."
"Relief is being provided by the ICRC and Palestine Red Crescent, but it is not enough, and thousands are still struggling to cope. The impact of the conflict is still being acutely felt by civilians. It will take decades to rebuild Gaza, but right now our priority is to meet the urgent humanitarian needs."
Sow also explained the relief and aid efforts that the Red Cross had made in cooperation with the Red Crescent following the war.
"Immediately after the heavy fighting stopped, the ICRC and the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) expanded their relief work to provide shelter and basic aid (food and cooking, hygiene and bedding items) for over 140,000 of the most vulnerable people."
"The ICRC has also made major repairs to water and electricity systems, restored almost half of the farmland to a state fit for farming, repaired damage to hospitals, and provided psycho-social support to exhausted emergency workers."
The ICRC also said it has recently completed its analysis of the overall humanitarian impacts of the war, focusing in particular on how the conflict was waged by both sides, pointing out that it shared its findings written in confidential reports with the concerned authorities.
In July last year, Israel waged a devastating war on Gaza for 51 days, during which its army massacred 2,311 Palestinians, wounded thousands, and destroyed entire neighborhoods and scores of homes. /SR
