Ahmad Abu Qamar: The destruction in the Gaza Strip has spread from homes and facilities to the arteries on which life and the economy depend
Ahmad Abu Qamar:
▪The destruction in the Gaza Strip has spread from homes and facilities to the arteries on which life and the economy depend, from roads and electricity to water, sanitation, and communications, making reconstruction a battle that goes beyond building structures to restoring the foundations of economic activity.
▪According to data from the United Nations satellite center, Unosat, more than 200,000 buildings were damaged, equal to 82% of all buildings, as of 16 June/June 2026, including more than 134,000 destroyed buildings, while the number of damaged housing units exceeded 328,000.
▪The figures show that about 87% of the road network is destroyed or damaged, while damage or destruction affected about 90% of water and sanitation infrastructure, and about 90% of energy infrastructure. The war of extermination also destroyed 81% of communications and information technology assets, while the remaining assets were damaged.
▪The effects of these figures are not limited to asset losses, but also mean higher costs of transporting food and fuel, disruptions to water supplies, difficulty operating health facilities and providing public services, and increased costs for any productive or commercial activity.
▪Damage to the transport sector was estimated at about $3.21 billion, the water and sanitation sector at about $1.7 billion, municipal services at about $620 million, energy at about $570 million, and communications at about $200 million.
▪Reconstruction is not limited to building homes, but begins with removing rubble and repairing roads and water, electricity, and sanitation networks, as the basic infrastructure needed for residents to return, production to resume, and markets and economic activity to be revitalized. With restrictions continuing on the entry of heavy equipment, spare parts, fuel, and maintenance materials, repair work is being disrupted and recovery costs are rising, while emergency solutions remain limited and unsustainable.
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Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas: We affirm that the arrest campaign carried out by the Palestinian Authority security forces in several governorates of the occupied West Bank last evening and at dawn today
Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas: ▪We affirm that the arrest campaign carried out by the Palestinian Authority security forces in several governorates of the occupied West Bank last evening and at dawn today, which targeted freed prisoners, activists, and citizens, constitutes a violation of public freedoms and Palestinian human rights. ▪The “revolving door” policy pursued by the Authority’s security forces in dealing with freed prisoners doubles their suffering and the suffering of their families, after years they spent in the prisons of the criminal enemy for the sake of their people and their right to freedom. ▪Amid the escalation of the occupation’s aggression and the bloody settler attacks in the West Bank, and the continued shelling, killing, and aggression on the Gaza Strip, it would have been more appropriate for the Authority to stand by its people and pressure the occupation to stop its crimes, not to pursue members of its own people and arrest them. ▪We call for the immediate release of all detainees and an end to political arrests and raids, and we also call on human rights institutions to condemn these arrests and act and apply pressure to stop them and secure the release of detainees.