Displaced Palestinians live in tents near destroyed buildings in Gaza City, October 19, 2025
Shelly Culbertson, Kobi Ruthenberg, Robert Lane
This commentary was originally published by Newsweek on October 22, 2025.
In the wake of the fragile ceasefire, thousands of Gazans have trekked home to find ruin. This highlights an unavoidable question: After all the destruction, where can Gazans live? The 20-point proposal to end to the war in Gaza brokered by the White House put it succinctly: “No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return. We will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza.”
Yet sustaining 2.2 million people within Gaza's 140 square miles while rebuilding faces many challenges. The wreckage is almost incomprehensible: At least 62 percent of housing is gone or beyond repair, and more is damaged. There are some 51 million tons of rubble laced with thousands of unexploded bombs.
Within this context, housing the Gazans will require a radical new approach to post-war reconstruction. But it is possible. We developed a comprehensive plan for post-conflict housing in Gaza. It is possible to immediately shelter the displaced Palestinians while also laying the groundwork for permanent, well-planned communities.
It is possible to immediately shelter the displaced Palestinians while also laying the groundwork for permanent, well-planned communities.
The first thing that needs rethinking is the role and location of camps, where most Gazans will need to reside in the near term. Although camps are a suboptimal solution, the scale of the destruction in Gaza and numbers of people involved mean they are inevitable. In theory, camps are temporary, but they often become permanent, evolving into urban slums as residents construct buildings where their tents once stood.
No comments:
Post a Comment