What Reconstructing Gaza Really Means

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/2025/11/reconstructing-gaza-vision/684919/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_content=edit-promo

Posted by theatlantic

6 comments

  1. Samer Sinijlawi: “The window President Donald Trump opened in the Middle East is narrow, but it is real. His intervention helped bring about a cease-fire that many thought impossible. In a region exhausted by endless war, that act alone deserves recognition. But ahead lies a task even more difficult than halting the gunfire: to repair what has been destroyed in Gaza, which is not only infrastructure but trust, both between and among Palestinians and Israelis.

    “Cranes and cement, together with time and money, can clear away physical rubble. But the moral and emotional debris will linger: fear, hatred, dehumanization. Reconciliation will have to advance in parallel with reconstruction. And for that, what’s required is what I like to think of as the four D’s.

    “First, for obvious reasons, *demilitarization*. But removing weapons alone does not remove the will to use them. Gaza will also need to *deradicalize*, which means healing minds poisoned by decades of hatred and fear; to *democratize*, which entails restoring legitimate and accountable institutions; and to develop a functioning economy that can replace despair with *dignity*.

    “Each of these necessities depends on the others. Without deradicalization, demilitarization will not last. Without democracy, development will be corrupted. And without development, deradicalization will fail. These are therefore not separate objectives but one integrated vision—the blueprint for a sustainable peace.”

    Read more: [https://theatln.tc/asRGVzVY](https://theatln.tc/asRGVzVY)

  2. Honest question: Why is this strip of land so important that the media reports on it like the end of the world is decided there? 

  3. Gaza’s reconstruction is an incredible difficult task. 150$ billion and will probably take 20 years according to some estimations. Any articles about is just looking for viewers

  4. >And so what is needed now is not bureaucratic continuity but moral renewal, beginning with free and fair elections. 

    … in which Hamas will inevitably win again. Then what?

  5. $150 billion is probably available from a variety of sources, e.g. the EU, the US, Gulf States, etc.

    The biggest obstacle will be whether reconstruction is “permitted” by Israel.

    The best start would be a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, their presence will not help one iota. Providing Israel with a sense of security would have to be done by other means than military occupation.

  6. Maybe I’m hopelessly naive but I believe a Marshall Plan for Gaza could absolutely work. Problem is it would have to have a third party act as peacekeeper because Israel just can’t credibly claim to be interested in helping Gazans get on their feet in their own state. And it’ll probably take 20 years, but if peace can be maintained over that time frame and the society develop their own industries and culture that is relatively secularized the ideology feeding Hamas’ terrorism will cease to exist.

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