UN hails willingness of countries to fund Gaza’s $70 billion reconstruction

United Nations Development Programme official, Jaco Cilliers, held a press conference in Geneva on Tuesday, October 14, 2025.

Cilliers expressed his optimism regarding “very good indications” and promising signs from countries about their willingness to contribute to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip (which costs approximately $70 billion), estimating that the 2-year Gaza War had generated at least 55 million tonnes of rubbe. Among the various and significant actors vowing to offer their aid include the United States, the European Union, Gulf states and even Turkey. Rumors have also spread regarding a proposal to rebuild Gaza by prominent private companies like Tesla, Ikea and TSMC (among others), although some of them claimed that they were unaware of their inclusion and others denied it altogether (such as the American Gaza Humanitarian Foundation). Concerning the latter particularly, a yet-to-be publicized humanitarian annex in the Gaza ceasefire deal, according to an informed source, excludes any role for the GHF in the Strip’s postwar humanitarian operations.

On another more pessimistic note, the UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, warned that what Palestinians are facing due to the Gaza War aftermath is “like another Nakba” (which was the forced expulsion of Palestinians in 1948 outside of what is today Israel). He claimed that the recovery process will ultimately take generations, due to the decimation of around 92% of all residential buildings and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Gazans.