Rebuilding Gaza to cost $7.8bn

The reconstruction of the Gaza Strip will cost $7.8 billion, Palestinian experts has said in a report carried by Ma’an news agency.
The Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction, a Palestinian Authority body that oversees the implementation of donor-financed projects, said the process would take “five years if Israel removed its blockade over Gaza entirely.”
Direct losses were estimated at $4.4 billion, while a budget of $3.02 billion was set for the development needs of the Gaza strip which include a seaport and a water desalination plant.
The 200-page document set a strategy to relief the people of Gaza and link that to the sustainable development that will help reduce unemployment and poverty.
The document recommended that for the rebuilding to run smoothly several conditions should be met, including completely lifting the eight-year old Israeli siege and allowing freedom of movement.