Gaza post-war reconstruction estimated at $20bn: UN trade body

Gaza will need a new "Marshall Plan" to recover from Israel's devastating aggression on the besieged strip, a UN trade body official said on Thursday, adding that the damage from the conflict so far amounted to around $20bn.

Speaking on the sidelines of a UN meeting in Geneva, Richard Kozul-Wright, a director at the trade body UNCTAD, said the damage was already four times that endured in Gaza during the seven-week war in 2014.

"We are talking about around $20 billion if it stops now," he said.

Kozul-Wright said the estimate was based on satellite images and other information, and that a more precise estimate would require researchers to enter Gaza.

Reporting by Reuters