Trump's special envoy gives tentative timeline for Gaza reconstruction
US President Donald Trump 's special envoy for the Middle East Stephen Whitkoff said that Gaza is "uninhabitable" and its reconstruction will take 10-15 years. He said in an interview with the Axios portal on January 30.
"People are traveling north to go back to their homes to see what happened, and then they turn around and leave: there's no water or electricity. It's amazing how much damage has been done there. <...> There was a perception that we could develop a credible plan for Gaza in five years. But that's not possible. It's a 10-15 year reconstruction plan," he said of what he saw from observation posts on the Israeli side and during a helicopter flight over Gaza.
The destruction is so colossal, he said, that demolition and debris removal alone would take five years. Meanwhile, the process of assessing the potential impact of the numerous tunnels under Gaza on the construction of new foundations could take several more years, with the reconstruction itself taking several more years.
"There's nothing left there. A lot of unexploded ordnance. It's not safe to walk there. It's very dangerous. I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't gone there and inspected it," he added.
According to Axios, the president's special envoy for the Middle East did not discuss the idea of moving Palestinians out of Gaza with Trump.
Earlier, on January 29, Axios correspondent Barak Ravid reported that Whitkoff during his trip to Israel, visited the Netzarim corridor, which divides the northern and southern parts of the Gaza Strip. It is noted that this is the first visit to the Gaza Strip by a representative of the US government in 15 years.
In the morning of January 19, the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip began to operate. On the same day, the Palestinian movement Hamas handed over to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross three Israeli hostages - Romy Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher. The next day, Israel released the first 90 Palestinian prisoners as part of the deal.
On January 24, Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya , said that he considers the conflict in Gaza a reflection of Western indifference to the protection of human rights. According to him, even if the Palestinian-Israeli conflict ends now, the risk of death and injury for the children of Gaza will persist for at least 14 more years. That is how long it will take to clear the territory of unexploded shells.
The Gaza ceasefire agreement was announced on January 15. The next day, the Ministry of Defense and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began preparations for the implementation of the agreement. In particular, the State Defense Ministry's Directorate of Checkpoints and the Design Department will be involved in the implementation of the deal in order to speed up logistics.
The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian radical movement Hamas subjected Israeli territory to a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. On the same day, Israel began retaliatory strikes.
