UN Says ‘Israel’, Western Backers Owe Gaza Reconstruction

By Staff, Agencies

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, has said the financial burden of rebuilding the Gaza Strip must be borne by "Israel" and several of its principal allies, including the United States, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

Speaking on Friday at an event hosted by the Open Data Institute Global Research Center in London, Albanese argued that responsibility for Gaza’s reconstruction lies not only with "Israel" but also with states that have politically, militarily, and materially enabled the devastation of the besieged enclave.

Accountability, she said, must extend beyond "Tel Aviv" to those entities that supported what she described as atrocities committed since October 2023, when "Israel" launched a Western-backed genocide that has left much of Gaza in ruins.

Albanese said the current crisis must be viewed within Palestine’s long colonial history, arguing that the violence of the past two years reflects patterns entrenched for decades, including repeated “Israeli” ceasefire violations that have continued to claim hundreds of lives.

She also compared “Israeli” policies to British colonial practices in Palestine, citing administrative detention and torture as tools of repression long used against Palestinians.

Albanese said US sanctions over her advocacy for Palestinian rights have severely affected her work and personal life, restricting travel and access to banking beyond US borders.

Albanese urged that “Israel” be held accountable for Gaza’s reconstruction and called on weapons-supplying countries—including the US, Germany, Italy, and Britain—for their role in the destruction, highlighting the need to probe Britain’s military support via Cyprus.

Albanese called on the international community to act immediately, warning that the worsening humanitarian crisis in Palestinian territories demands urgent global accountability.

It is worth noting that Gaza’s Government Media Office reported in January that 90% of Gaza’s infrastructure was destroyed, urging the international community and Arab nations to open crossings and deliver essential aid.

Gaza’s Government Media Office warned 1.5 million displaced Palestinians face humanitarian collapse, with winter storms and flooding making makeshift camps uninhabitable.

Despite a ceasefire, director Ismail al-Thawabta said the blockade suffocates Gaza, with only 20,000 of 300,000 needed tents allowed in, leaving camps flooded and families exposed to cold, disease, and sewage.

The scale of destruction is staggering: Over 22,000 tents have been destroyed, leaving families without shelter, while collapsed emergency structures and failed water networks mix rain with sewage, heightening the risk of cholera and other diseases.

Adding to the desperation, at least 10 mobile medical points are offline, supplies are blocked, and medical teams cannot reach the sick, leaving displaced Palestinians defenseless against cold, rain, and wind—a situation al-Thawabta called "engineered vulnerability" from the ongoing siege.

UNRWA issued its own sharp warning, saying that Gaza’s winter floods worsen dire conditions, increasing the risk of disease in overcrowded, unsanitary camps.