Gaza, six dead in Rafah raids. The UN reports: “40 years of development have been wiped out”
70% of the houses were destroyed. To rebuild, 50 billion dollars are needed
ROME – Six people, including four children, are the latest victims of the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip. As reported by the international press, last night the Israeli army bombed a building in Rafah, a southern city close to the border with Egypt, against which the Tel Aviv government intends to launch the final offensive to “neutralize the Hamas” to “bring the hostages home”, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. The latest death toll updates that released yesterday by the Gaza health authorities, according to which since 7 October 34,596 Palestinians have lost their lives, while 70% of homes were destroyed.
READ ALSO: Waiting for the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, Netanyahu: “With or without, we attack Rafah”
READ ALSO: Gaza, the US evaluates sanctions against members of the Criminal Court of The Hague
“We haven’t seen anything like this since 1945,” Abdallah al-Dardari, director of the regional office for the Arab states of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), said yesterday at a press conference. The manager added that it will be necessary to remove 37 million tons of debris, 15 times more than that caused by the 2014 conflict, when there were 2.4 million. “All the investments in human development made over the last 40 years have been wiped out,” denounced al-Dardari. “We are almost back to the 1980s”, adding that between 40 and 50 billion dollars will be needed for reconstruction.
Meanwhile, journalist Thomas Friedman in the New York Times writes that talks are underway between the United States and Saudi Arabiato find a way to end the conflict. The leaders of Riyadh have said they are willing to renew diplomatic relations with Israel, if the Tel Aviv government agrees to some conditions: fostering the creation of a State of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza within a maximum of five years< /strong> >, withdrawing security forces and freezing settlement construction. Friedman concludes by observing that the executive led by Netanyahu is unlikely to accept, since its representatives have put support for settlers and the construction of new settlements at the center of government policy.
Meanwhile, the response of the Hamas leaders to the negotiation proposal presented by Israel is still awaited. Yesterday the head of the movement, Ismail Haniyeh, discussed it in two separate phone calls with the representatives of Egypt and Qatar – mediators of the agreement – arguing that the current proposal would be “more positive”, and that he will soon travel to Egypt for further meetings. The objective is to achieve a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Strip, which has been under military operation since October 7, the day in which militiamen linked to Hamas attacked areas in southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 240 held hostage .