Dozens of participants, including UN officials, volunteers, and residents recently returned from the southern Gaza Strip, engaged in activities in the city center. A woman in a wheelchair joined, holding a sign that read “We will rebuild Gaza” to show her support for the campaign.
Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO network, stated the initiative is “a shared message to the world that the people of Gaza are capable of bringing their city back to life.” He mentioned that specialized engineering teams have begun addressing over 60 million tonnes of debris from destroyed homes and infrastructure, emphasizing that “today’s volunteer campaign is just the beginning of a long process until Gaza becomes more beautiful than it was.”
Volunteers, NGOs, and the UN are involved in the “We will rebuild Gaza” campaign. Heads of UN agencies participated in the cleanup efforts, supporting local initiatives. Alessandro Marakic, head of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), said: “we are here with local authorities, civil society organizations, and the Chamber of Commerce to start the clean-up operations. What we see today is people returning to their city and regaining some of their dignity by restoring order to the streets.”
He noted that the program conducts daily solid waste collection and is preparing for the winter season to ensure effective water and wastewater management. The campaign involved deploying machines and trucks to clear debris from the streets, with workers and volunteers helping remove trash and clean public spaces, as part of broader efforts to revitalize the city after several months of war.
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