Gaza reconstruction estimated at $71.4 billion, UN and EU say
UN and EU say Gaza reconstruction will cost $71.4 billion over 10 years; $26.3 billion is required in 18 months to restore services, housing and trade.
The United Nations and the European Union released a joint estimate on Monday placing the total cost of Gaza reconstruction at $71.4 billion over the next decade, a figure drawn from a rapid damage and needs assessment conducted with the World Bank. The report says $26.3 billion must be mobilised within the first 18 months to restore basic services, rebuild critical infrastructure and support immediate economic recovery. The announcement underscores the scale of destruction across housing, health, education, trade and agriculture, and the need for reconstruction to proceed alongside ongoing humanitarian efforts.
UN-EU estimate and funding timeline
The joint assessment breaks the $71.4 billion figure into immediate and long-term needs, calling for rapid disbursement of $26.3 billion during the 18 months following the assessment. This initial tranche is intended to restore essential public services and reconstruct key infrastructure to stabilise daily life and enable wider recovery. The full $71.4 billion is projected to cover recovery, reconstruction and economic revitalisation across a 10-year horizon.
Recorded physical damage and economic loss
The report places direct physical damage to infrastructure at about $35.2 billion and economic and social losses at $22.7 billion. Housing bears a substantial share of the physical toll, with the assessment recording 371,888 dwellings destroyed or damaged. The combined figures illustrate both the immediate reconstruction burden and longer-term economic recovery needs that will follow the initial rebuilding phase.
Human impact: displacement, services and education
According to the assessment, roughly 1.9 million people have been displaced, many multiple times, and more than 60 percent of the population has lost their homes. More than half of healthcare facilities have been rendered non-operational, and nearly all schools sustained damage or destruction, sharply limiting access to health care and education. The collapse of services and shelter has compounded humanitarian needs and intensified pressure on neighbouring areas and aid agencies.
Economic contraction and development setback
The assessment estimates the Gaza economy contracted by 84 percent, a collapse that has dramatically reversed decades of human development progress. Analysts cited in the report argue that the cumulative impact on livelihoods, food security and social inclusion has set back human development in Gaza by an estimated 77 years. Restoring economic activity and social services will therefore be essential not just for rebuilding infrastructure but for reversing deep social and developmental losses.
Conditions for successful reconstruction
The joint statement stresses that reconstruction cannot succeed without a set of enabling conditions, including a durable ceasefire, adequate security, unfettered humanitarian access and the immediate restoration of core public services. Freedom of movement for people, goods and construction materials between Gaza and the West Bank is listed as a critical requirement to allow materials, labour and commercial activity to resume. The assessment warns that without these conditions the recovery and reconstruction process will face severe impediments and likely fail to meet urgent needs.
Governance and Palestinian leadership in rebuilding
The report emphasises that Palestinians must take the lead in managing the reconstruction process, with programmes aligned to Security Council guidance and international commitments. It calls for coordination mechanisms that ensure Palestinian ownership of planning and implementation while drawing on international financing and technical support. Donor coordination and transparency are presented as prerequisites for effective allocation of funds and for building durable local institutions.
International and regional actors will face complex political, logistical and financing challenges as they respond to the report’s call for unprecedented investment in Gaza. The scale of the required funding, the need for parallel humanitarian and reconstruction operations, and the security conditions on the ground will test the ability of states and multilateral organisations to deliver quickly and at scale. Donors will also be pressed to balance immediate relief with long-term reconstruction that promotes resilience and economic opportunity.
The assessment frames reconstruction as both an urgent humanitarian necessity and a long-term development endeavour, requiring sustained engagement over a decade. Restoring homes, hospitals, schools and markets will be a multi-year effort that must be sequenced with social protection, livelihoods programming and institution-building. Success will depend on meeting the enabling conditions outlined in the report and on ensuring that reconstruction supports recovery that is locally led, transparent and inclusive.
Long-term recovery will also require sustained private-sector engagement and regional trade restoration to rebuild livelihoods and tax bases. Rebuilding agriculture, trade links and small and medium enterprises is essential to revive employment and food security. International financing instruments, concessional loans and grants will need to be structured to support both infrastructure and the revival of productive sectors.
The UN-EU assessment provides a detailed costing and a roadmap for immediate and phased reconstruction, but it also issues a clear warning: without security, humanitarian access and Palestinian leadership, neither recovery nor reconstruction will succeed. The coming months will test the international community’s capacity to translate the report’s figures and conditions into tangible financing and deliverable projects that reach the populations most in need.