MORE than £53 billion will be needed to rebuild “only part of what was destroyed” amid Israel’s genocide in Gaza, according to a new report.
Building Gaza Anew – co-authored by Oxfam, the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS) and the Palestine Trade Centre (PalTrade) – estimates that the total cost of reconstruction of the Palestinian enclave will be seven times as much as the combined cost of reconstruction after every major Israeli military offensive over the past two decades.
However, Oxfam warned that “even that figure captures only part of what was destroyed – the physical and economic cost – not the deliberate erasure of the social fabric that holds Gaza together, which will take generations to restore”.
Richard Hawkes, chief executive of Oxfam GB, said: “The government must take the lead in ensuring Palestinians are the primary decision-makers in rebuilding the Gaza Strip and should no longer suffer the devastating consequences of the Israeli Government’s ongoing genocide and aid blockade in Gaza.
“The government must show its commitment to international law by ending the sale to Israel of arms that are used in violations of international law, and banning trade and investment in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.”
The report, which offers a blueprint for Gaza’s restoration, says that this must be framed as a matter of rights and reparations, not charity.
It sets out for the US-chaired Board of Peace and world leaders how a Palestinian-led reconstruction can succeed – and warns that any model imposed from outside will fail, however much money sits behind it.
“What was destroyed in Gaza was not merely steel and concrete. Israel eradicated an entire social and economic world, built up over generations, and only Palestinians can rebuild it,” said Mohammad Skaik, Gaza program manager at PalTrade.
Misyef Jamil, a senior researcher at MAS, added: “Reconstruction is not only a humanitarian task; it is a political one. A plan designed in foreign capitals, however well-funded, would be a cosmetic exercise – simply another form of control over Palestinian land and lives.
“Our consultations across Gaza carried one unmistakable message: nothing about our future without us.”
According to the UN-EU-World Bank Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA) of April 2026, Gaza has suffered $57.9bn in total damage and economic losses, with $71.4bn required for recovery and reconstruction over the next decade.
More than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed, 173,000 injured, 1.9 million forcibly displaced, and human development set back an estimated 77 years.
In September 2025, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. The report argues that governments which armed, funded, or shielded the destruction share responsibility for its repair.
This year, the commission concluded that Israel had deliberately targeted Palestinian children as part of that genocide.
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice – the principal judicial organ of the United Nations – issued an advisory ruling saying that Israel’s presence in occupied Palestinian territories like Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank was “illegal”. UN states, including the UK, were therefore obliged to “ensure compliance by Israel with international humanitarian law” and to refrain from any dealings with Israel relating to occupied Palestinian land.
However, the UK Government has still not responded to the ruling.
