What Awaits Palestinians After the Ceasefire?

After much back and forth and with Benjamin Netanyahu's final agreement to a cabinet vote in Israel regarding the ceasefire plan, it is hoped that the fifteen-month war in Gaza will come to a halt starting Sunday, January 30. The people of Gaza are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to leave their miserable tents and return to their homes if a lasting ceasefire is established; however, the reality is that there are no homes left. It is also unclear when these destroyed houses in the region will be rebuilt and whether there is any plan for this, as two-thirds of Gaza's structures have been destroyed in this war, and the true extent of the devastation will only become clear after the fighting stops and experts conduct a thorough assessment. Last month, the United Nations estimated using satellite images that 69 percent of all structures in Gaza, including 245,000 homes, have been destroyed or severely damaged. Mountains of rubble and construction debris have formed in this strip, and before any reconstruction operations can begin, substantial debris removal is necessary. The Israeli security cabinet agreed to the ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages. The United Nations estimates that the amount of rubble and waste accumulated in Gaza exceeds 50 million tons; a volume equivalent to 12 times the Great Pyramid of Giza from the three pyramids of Egypt. If one hundred trucks work around the clock to remove this amount of rubble, the entire cleanup operation will take more than fifteen years. Additionally, a large amount of unexploded ordnance and human remains are also among this rubble. The Gaza Ministry of Health states that the bodies of thousands of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes are still buried under piles of dirt and debris. Meanwhile, definitive statistics indicate that at least 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in this strip, and tens of thousands have suffered serious injuries and amputations. Executing the cleanup operation requires billions of dollars in funding. There is also no practical plan for transporting building materials and equipment to this densely populated area. No measures have yet been taken for any of these issues. The ceasefire agreement and the release of hostages did not mention the possibility of lifting the blockade of Gaza by Israel and Egypt, a blockade that has been ongoing for 18 years since Hamas came to power. Observers doubt that international financial backers will be willing to invest in a region lacking government and authority, which has witnessed five wars in the past two decades. This raises concerns that the overcrowded and miserable tent camps along the coast may become a permanent and enduring part of the future living conditions in this strip.