Over the last year, more than half the residential buildings and electrical power lines in Gaza have been destroyed by the Israel-Hamas war. But international efforts to rebuild Gaza’s infrastructure are largely on hold until the war ends, with big institutions such as the United Nations and the World Bank saying they’ll wait to begin such a behemoth task.
A handful of small civil society groups have decided not to wait. Tareq Abu Hamed, a Palestinian environmentalist with the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, says the organization is waiting for the necessary permits to send solar panels into Gaza. Once they’re allowed inside, they can be installed to help bring electricity, wastewater treatment, and desalination back online in the Strip as soon as possible.
“Of course, our systems can be bombarded or destroyed. It’s a risk, but we are willing to take that risk” said Abu Hamed, the executive director of the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated environmental studies and research institute — which employs Israelis and Palestinians, as well as people from Jordan, Morocco, and other countries.
About the authors
Jesse Chase-Lubitz
Jesse Chase-Lubitz covers climate change and multilateral development banks for Devex. She previously worked at Nature Magazine, where she received a Pulitzer grant for an investigation into land reclamation. She has written for outlets such as Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and The Japan Times, among others. Jesse holds a master’s degree in Environmental Policy and Regulation from the London School of Economics.
Colum Lynch
Colum Lynch is an award-winning reporter and Senior Global Reporter for Devex. He covers the intersection of development, diplomacy, and humanitarian relief at the United Nations and beyond. Prior to Devex, Colum reported on foreign policy and national security for Foreign Policy Magazine and the Washington Post. Colum was awarded the 2011 National Magazine Award for digital reporting for his blog Turtle Bay. He has also won an award for groundbreaking reporting on the U.N.’s failure to protect civilians in Darfur.
