Early Recovery That Cannot Wait for Donor Conferences
Omar Shaban's argument, from 2014 to 2025, that the most urgent post-war interventions — shelter, water and electricity, cash, rubble clearance and jobs — must start before donor pledges materialise, and his proposal to rebuild Gaza neighbourhood by neighbourhood under Palestinian ownership so that people can see a viable future.
Omar Shaban: Gaza's urgent needs — shelter, services, cash, jobs — cannot wait for donors; rebuild neighbourhood by neighbourhood, Palestinian-led.
After the 2014 war, Shaban urged the national consensus government to borrow from the banks to finance interventions that could not wait for the Cairo conference. After the 2023–2025 war the scale is far greater: 371,888 housing units destroyed or damaged and 1.9 million people displaced (EU–UN–World Bank, 2026), and an estimated 68 million tonnes of debris to remove. In June 2025 he also called for urgent action on Gaza's cash shortage, which he described as having been weaponised.
Implementing donor pledges takes a long time to begin, and some needs cannot wait: “There is much that must and can be done without waiting for the donors.” Rebuilding a few neighbourhoods quickly — two in each governorate, one city and one refugee camp — can restore the hope that a whole-of-Gaza approach would take too long to deliver.
Recommendations
Prepare an emergency government plan matched to the scale of the damage, and finance interventions that cannot wait through bank borrowing rather than waiting for donor conferences.
Immediately form local teams to build prefabricated housing for families whose homes were destroyed, employing those affected, and rehabilitate partially damaged apartments.
Restore water, electricity and sewage services, support municipalities, and expand psychosocial support, especially for children and women.
In each governorate, prepare a large site with integrated infrastructure and drainage, deliver mobile container homes by family size, and use the sites to distribute food and supplies.
Begin reconstruction with two neighbourhoods per governorate — one city, one refugee camp — each with 10–20 trucks and equipment, giving priority to production and education alongside infrastructure, health and food.
Involve residents in decision-making and implementation, and establish a Palestinian national committee for reconstruction drawn from the private sector, civil society and diverse political representation.
Respond to the Palestine Monetary Authority's request to bring cash into Gaza: humanitarian organisations to pay staff in cash, worn currency replaced, ATM spare parts and new machines allowed in, and fuel provided to banks.
Hold an open discussion across society and the political system to rank the challenges by importance and agree on how to implement and finance them.
Expected outcomes
Jobs and revived economic activity from rehabilitating partially damaged homes and building shelter with local labour.
Neighbourhoods that show what the future could look like for the rest of Gaza, creating hope and helping those who fled to return.
Cash entering Gaza to alleviate the suffering of its population.