The Times: Reconstructing Gaza will take 10 years and cost $50 billion.

From the rubble of his destroyed home, Hamza al-Shami looked out at a scene of complete devastation. As soon as the ceasefire in Gaza began last Friday, the 29-year-old computer technician rushed to his neighborhood in Khan Yunis from the tent he had been sheltering in on the western side of the city.

“I went straight to see my house, but I found nothing but rubble,” al-Shami told The Times. “The house had several floors and a workshop where my brothers and I worked, but it was completely destroyed. Everything was gone. Even the streets and landmarks I knew were unrecognizable.”

Although Al-Shami and his friends are relieved by the ceasefire, they realize they face a long and arduous road to rebuilding their shattered city.

The scale of destruction is unprecedented since World War II. According to the latest United Nations data based on satellite imagery taken between September 22 and 23, approximately 83% of buildings in Gaza City have been damaged, including approximately 17,734 completely destroyed.

In Khan Yunis, to the south, the situation is similar. Entire neighborhoods, like Al-Shami’s, have been razed to the ground after the Israeli occupation army intensified its attacks in recent weeks. Across the Strip, the number of destroyed buildings has increased by a third compared to the previous month.