Introduction

The Gaza Strip was recently catapulted to international headlines when the Israeli security cabinet declared a "state of war," preventing water, electricity, fuel, and food supplies from reaching the already besieged territory, two days after the "Al-Aqsa Flood operation" launched by the Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas," on October 7, 2023. As the Israeli war on Gaza continues, it has so far left massive destruction estimated initially at billions of dollars, due to the massive and unprecedented bombing of Gaza's civilian infrastructure. Indeed, the 2023 war is not the first against the Gaza Strip to cause massive destruction, although it is the worst in its history.

The besieged territory has been subjected to several Israeli military operations, the largest of which was the 2009–2008 war that lasted for 21 days. In addition, there was the eight-day war of 2012, the 2014 war that lasted 51 days, and the 2021 war, which lasted 11 days, all followed by several rounds of what was titled the "reconstruction of the Gaza Strip." As such, the reconstruction of Gaza has been a dominant theme over the past two decades; yet, rebuilding the pre-war and pre-siege society has generally been overlooked by mainstream reconstruction practices and policies. This has turned the reconstruction process, including the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM), which is totally controlled by Israel, into a tool that has contributed to the institutionalization of the siege and occupation of Gaza and caused the territory's de-development.

The purpose of this briefing is to shed light on the reconstruction process in Gaza under siege since 2006 when "Hamas" took control of the Gaza Strip. It begins by reconceptualizing Gaza's reconstruction process and then proceeds to examine the rise and fall of reconstruction space in the region. Finally, the briefing indicates the need to create a new strategy for the reconstruction of Gaza, in addition to several important recommendations that decision-makers must consider in order to move forward. The briefing concludes also by calling for adopting the people-centered liberationist development perspective in dealing with Gaza's Reconstruction...

To cite this article: 

Alarabeed, W. (2024). The Myth of Gaza’s Reconstruction: The Rise and Fall of Reconstruction Space Under the Israeli Siege. Journal of Peacebuilding & Development, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/15423166231226124

The link to the article: https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/RQHZ9VY87Q3EKN37V7R8/full