"The EU cannot be expected to finance yet again the re-building of Gaza without a meaningful prospect of actually solving the underlying conflict," Borrell wrote in a blog he posted over the weekend. Although his statement did not have the consensus of the 27-member states, it does reflect the sentiment of some of them.
He spoke out as top UN officials — Humanitarian Coordinator for the Palestinian territories Lynn Hasting and UN Relief and Works Agency Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini — visited Gaza over the weekend.
They surveyed the civilian damage done during the 11-day IDF operation to target Hamas terror infrastructure, known as Guardian of the Walls which began in response to Hamas rocket attacks against Israeli civilians on May 10 and ended early Friday morning.
t is the fourth Gaza since Operation Cast Lead in December 2008 and January 2009. Two other additional wars, one in 2012 dubbed Pillar of Defense and one in 2014, known as Operation Protective Edge.
The 2014 war, which included aerial bombardments and ground campaign inside Gaza, destroyed or severely damaged 18,000 homes, displacing 100,000, according to the UN Office for the .
As of the start of the 2021 war, homes had been provided for all but 660 families, approximately 3,700 people, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Some "258 buildings, comprising 1,042 housing and commercial units, had been destroyed" as of Thursday, according to an initial estimate by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. It also estimated that 769 housing units "had been severely damaged, and rendered uninhabitable.: It added that "an additional 14,536 units suffered minor damage." Those estimates are likely to rise once a full assessment is completed.
Hastings said that, "In the coming days, we will launch an inter-agency financial appeal to support our efforts to address new humanitarian needs." In the interim, she said, "the humanitarian community is working hard to bring in essential items, including food, medicine and fuel."
Already, even in advance of the a funding drive, the UN plans to release $22 million for immediate needs such as healthcare and water, Hastings said. Last week UNRWA launched a flash $38 million appeal for funding.
Hastings listed issues she found in Gaza outside of housing such as damage to health care facilities, including a COVIDD-19 testing lab and a health care center that treated pandemic victims.
"An agricultural supplies warehouse was destroyed – and with it likely at least one season of crops, threatening food security – creating a health and environmental hazard," Hastings said.
Both she and Lazzarini also visited some of the victims of the IDF bombings.
"I met with several families that have been deeply affected by the latest round of hostilities. A father who lost his wife and four of his five children. I witnessed the despair of displaced families whose homes have been completely destroyed," Hastings said.
After visiting a damaged school, she tweeted, "Damage in a classroom of one of the 48 schools hit last week in Gaza. It can be repaired but really issue is long term trauma. One father told me his son asked him if it hurts to die."
As of Thursday, according to OCHA, some 242 Palestinians, including 66 children, had been killed in Gaza, as result of the war., of which at least 129 were civilians. Most of those deaths, OCHA said, appeared to be from IDF fire, but some were from Palestinian rockets that fell short.
It added that at least "14 families in Gaza have lost three or more family members in the same incident," OCHA said.
Lazzarini said that “19 of the 60 children killed in this conflict went to UNRWA schools, they were known to my colleagues.” He added that, "every morning during the eleven-day conflict our colleagues went to work without knowing whether they would come back to their families.”