Energy systems also intersect with environmental sustainability. In crisis settings, reliance on diesel generators and improvised fuel sources increases air pollution and operational costs while undermining reliability. Reconstruction offers an opportunity to invest in more resilient and cleaner energy systems that can power water treatment, health facilities and homes without exacerbating environmental harm. Integrating renewable energy and energy efficient design can enhance resilience and reduce future vulnerability, especially in a territory where supply chains are frequently disrupted.
International organisations, universities and technical experts have an important role to play in supporting environmentally sustainable reconstruction. They can provide independent environmental assessments, contamination mapping and risk analysis. They can assist in designing low-cost water treatment technologies and waste recycling systems adapted to local conditions. However, external involvement must strengthen local capacity rather than replace it. Gaza’s professionals and institutions should lead long-term environmental governance, supported by training and transparent data systems. Funding mechanisms should require environmental impact assessments and resilience planning as core conditions rather than optional components.
Ultimately, reconstruction in Gaza will be judged not only by the number of buildings erected but by whether daily life becomes safer, healthier and more sustainable. Water that is safe to drink, soil that can produce food, air that does not carry toxic dust and neighbourhoods free from hazardous debris are the true foundations of recovery. Ignoring these environmental dimensions in favour of short-term political or financial gains would repeat past mistakes and lock Gaza into a cycle of repeated crisis.
Rebuilding Gaza is often framed as a diplomatic and security challenge. It is that, but it is also an environmental challenge of historic scale. If sustainability is embedded at the core of reconstruction, Gaza’s recovery can strengthen resilience and improve human security. If it is neglected, reconstruction will rest on unstable ground, vulnerable to collapse under the weight of pollution, scarcity and renewed instability. The choice is not between speed and sustainability. The choice is between rebuilding for appearance and rebuilding for sustaining life.
ASHOK SWAIN is a professor of peace and conflict research at Uppsala University, Sweden