Months required to reconstruct Gaza Strip: UN

UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos says it will take months to repair the destruction Israel has wreaked on the UN’s infrastructure in the besieged Gaza Strip.

On Sunday, the UN official made the remarks in the Iranian capital Tehran where she is on a two-day visit for talks with Iranian officials on the humanitarian crises in the Gaza Strip, Syria, and Iraq.

“Damage to hospitals, schools and [the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East] UNRWA shelters where people displaced sought refuge will take months to rebuild,” she said

Amos further noted that a total of 97 UN facilities, including health and food distribution centers, as well as schools, have been damaged in the Israeli war on Gaza since July 8.

“The UN response continues including deliveries of food, water and households goods. Medicines and fuel are being delivered to hospitals,” she added.

According to Palestinian medical authorities on Sunday, at least 2016 Palestinian people have lost their lives and as many as 10,193 others have suffered injuries in the merciless Israeli attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip.

Nearly 540 children are reportedly among the dead.

A panel appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council is expected to start investigating the crimes committed by Israel in its war on Gaza.

Human rights groups say Israeli forces are systematically killing Palestinian children and youths.

Nearly 400,000 Palestinian children are in immediate need of psychological help due to “catastrophic and tragic impact” of the Israeli war, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).