The Bleak Reality of Gaza Reconstruction

November 25, 2025
Patrick Li

After decades of turmoil-stricken reality, it is virtually undeniable that the ‘temporary’ often becomes the ‘permanent’ in the Middle East. The Palestinian Authority (PA) was meant to be a 5-year interim body; it has now stretched on for more than 30 years. Following a month of a lofty ceasefire that has just taken hold, Gaza’s nearly 2 million residents now spend days wondering if their despair will hold permanent as well. This article seeks to explain the hopes, progress, and roadblocks that the rebuilding effort currently faces.

What’s Happening Now:

To be brutally straightforward, nothing—as of now—has been empirically done to rebuild the territory flattened by nearly two years of war. So far, Arab states have proposed a draft of a reconstruction plan that involves the insurance of the population to remain (a result of mass Arab hesitance in accepting refugees) in Gaza while a technocratic Palestinian committee oversees day-to-day affairs, but it is quite unlikely to take place unless Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, agrees to disarm.

Yet, with Hamas uncompromising, some American and Israeli officials have begun proposing alternatives; many hope to begin rebuilding efforts on the other side of the boundary between almost half of Hamas-controlled Gaza and Israeli occupation (see map). However, almost no Palestinians reside in this area, and Arab states ardently oppose. Gazans are in desperate need of homes and services, yet no workable plan genuinely seems to exist as of now.

Map: The Economist

The magnitude of the destruction is unprecedented. Starting with housing; the UN estimates in August that nearly 320,000 homes had been destroyed or damaged to any degree, almost 18 times more occurrences than during the initial 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, the deadliest conflict until this one. Even conservative estimates paint a brutal picture: around 1.2 million people, or nearly 60% of Gaza, are homeless, with even tents being difficult to find. Aid groups say that mere thousands have been let inside as of now.

Alternative Proposals:

There is no shortage of ideas, however comedically unrealistic, for the rebuilding effort. President Trump recently proposed turning the strip into a luxury beach resort, much to the dismay of Palestinians and his political opponents alike. Perhaps more abysmal, some Israeli businessmen have pitched the idea of building Tesla factories and AI datacenters in the ruins. The PA has drafted its own reconstruction point plan, and so have local officials. Yet, perhaps the most acclaimed is the Egyptian initiative that Arab states endorsed in March that envisions a rebuilding in a phased manner.

The first phase involves clearing the estimated 60m tons of rubble heaped across; some is aimed to be repurposed, as after the 2014 war, contractors used debris from bombed buildings to repave coastal motorways. Egypt hopes to mix the rubble with sand and use it to reclaim land off Gaza’s coast, hosting a port and other infrastructure. The second phase lasts for four and a half years and focuses on rebuilding. With almost everyone in Gaza unemployed, Egypt hopes that the plan draws from an ample labor force.

Money is the biggest obstacle. The Egyptian plan puts the cost of reconstruction at $53bn; the UN estimates it at $70bn. Donors do not want to foot the bill unless they know the war is truly over. That requires disarming Hamas. The ceasefire calls for an international peacekeeping force to do the job. Donald Trump is urging the UN Security Council to give the force a two-year mandate.

Until then, the future, again, remains bleak for Palestinian civilians that—for the past two years—have only known chaos and turmoil as reality.