Immediately after the Israeli campaign against the Gaza Strip ended May 21, Palestinians began tallying the effects of the destruction that befell them. Naji Sarhan, undersecretary of the Ministry of Public Works and Housing for the Hamas-controlled government in Gaza, announced during a press conference May 20 that 1,800 housing units were completely demolished, 16,800 were partially destroyed, while 120,000 Palestinians were displaced amid difficult economic and humanitarian conditions.

In addition, five large residential towers in central Gaza City were completely destroyed, along with 74 government facilities, while 66 schools were damaged, three mosques were demolished, 40 others were damaged, and one church was damaged, according to Sarhan.

Al-Monitor learned from government sources in Gaza that the government “reached out to international agencies, donor institutions and partners in the reconstruction process to relieve the suffering of those affected, and distribute $2,000 to the owners of each totally demolished housing unit, and $1,000 for owners of uninhabitable units, in cooperation with the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza and the Ministry of Social Development.”

Salama Marouf, head of the Hamas-controlled government media office in Gaza, told Al-Monitor, “Once the fighting ended, we contacted the governmental, civil and private committees concerned with reconstruction to monitor and supervise the arrival of donor funds, and these committees are willing to handle the reconstruction process. Gaza has honest economic [bodies] that are able to communicate with international donors without the tutelage of the Palestinian Authority [PA], which failed in such task after the wars of 2008, 2012 and 2014, since much of the reconstruction funds illegally ended up in the [PA’s] budget.”