Heavy construction equipment is lined up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on February 13, 2025. AFP
The Egyptian TV channel aired footage of bulldozers and mobile homes crossing into the war-devastated strip through the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza in the morning hours.
Tel Aviv had blocked the entry of rubble-removing heavy equipment and caravans for the displaced to Gaza for days, in a clear violation of the ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Earlier last week, Hamas threatened not to release three more Israeli captives last Saturday as scheduled under the ceasefire/prisoner swap deal unless Israel allows the entry of rubble-removal equipment and mobile homes to the strip as stipulated in the agreement.
However, Egyptian and Qatari mediators resolved all outstanding issues at the eleventh hour, before the swap was scheduled to occur.
The sixth exchange of prisoners on Saturday saw Israel release 369 Palestinian prisoners, including 36 serving life sentences and 333 Gazans arrested after 7 October, in return for the three captives held by Hamas and Palestinian factions.
Rebuilding Gaza!
The three-phased ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the US and in effect since 19 January, mandates that Israel permit the entry of 60,000 temporary homes and 200,000 tents, rubble removal equipment to start the process of the reconstruction of the strip at the end of the 42-day first phase.
The 15-month Israeli genocidal war on Gaza decimated 92 percent of homes in the strip, leaving most of the 2.4 million population without shelter, according to a UN report.
Thousands of displaced Palestinians have been anxiously waiting for mobile homes and caravans as they brave freezing temperatures this winter without any roof over their heads as strong winds and heavy rains washed away their tents.
The United Nations estimates that the war has left over 42 million tons of debris in Gaza, 14 times the amount of rubble accumulated in Gaza between 2008 and the war's start a year ago, and over five times the amount left by the 2016-2017 Battle of Mosul in Iraq, according to UN.
According to estimates by Reuters, if the rubble were piled up, it would fill the Great Pyramid of Giza—Egypt's largest—11 times, growing daily.
According to AP, debris and rubble laced with human remains in Gaza are enough to fill New York’s Central Park to a depth of eight metres (about 25 feet).
Egypt is currently formulating a plan for the immediate reconstruction plan of the Gaza Strip Gaza that would not displace its people in a counter-proposal to the colonialist-style proposal advanced by US President Donal Trump to expel the native population from their homeland to build a Middle East Riviera.
Egypt is expected to present its vision for the strip's reconstruction at an emergency Arab summit on Palestine, slated for 4 March in Cairo.
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