Finding suitable shelter solutions for the displaced in Gaza

Transitional shelter options include rental assistance, refurbishment of buildings under construction and prefabricated housing units

Since mid-September, UNRWA, UNDP and the Ministry of Public Works and Housing (MoPWH) in Gaza have been conducting assessments of homes affected by the hostilities to assess the level of damage and identify shelter needs. Although these assessments are ongoing, they reveal an unprecedented number of damaged and destroyed housing units. Current estimates indicate that 29 per cent of Gaza’s total housing stock has been affected, which is more than double the initial estimate.

According to initial estimates, 20,000 housing units, nearly six per cent of the housing stock, were severely damaged or destroyed during the hostilities, resulting in more than 100,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). The Ministry of Social Affairs in Gaza reported that an estimated 47,000 IDPs are residing with host families and another 57,000 in collective centres as of 8 October. Many continue to live in the rubble of their destroyed or damaged homes, or in other in-situ makeshift shelters. All will require transitional shelter support and assistance for reconstruction of their homes, particularly as winter is approaching. IDPs are exposed to risks living in damaged buildings on the verge of collapse with exposed electrical wires and ERW (Explosive Remnants of War) contamination. Long term reconstruction will require the sustained opening of crossings to allow the import of building materials in large quantities (see section below on the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism).

A chronic shortage of housing units prior to the July-August hostilities had resulted in overcrowding and a range of related concerns (e.g. increased domestic violence, lower educational performance, etc.). There were some 5,000 outstanding reconstruction caseloads from previous military operations, in addition to more than 75,000 housing units needed to reduce the large housing defcit resulting from high natural growth rates.[1]

The number of housing units available for rent on the market remains scarce - an estimated 1,000 units - and the areas where rented apartments tend to be more easily available (major urban centres) are not necessarily the areas where the majority of IDPs were residing prior to their displacement and are now seeking temporary shelter. Furthermore, rental prices are reported to have increased, further compounding an already fragile situation.

Transitional shelter options include rental assistance; refurbishment of buildings under construction to create new rental units; and prefabricated housing units in rural areas, either installed on the site of the original home, or in small temporary displacement sites of up to 50 units One such site has been established so far in Khuza’a on private land now rented by Khuza’a Municipality and consisting of 26 prefabricated housing units donated by the charity ‘Human Appeal’. Another site in Khuza’a of 49 housing units has now opened and further 25 units will be placed on the sites of totally destroyed and severely damaged buildings on available land.

Additional prefabricated housing units are expected to arrive in the Gaza Strip over the coming weeks (between 3,000 and 5,000). While such units can provide temporary shelter for the winter, they are not considered an ideal solution. The Government of Palestine and shelter actors recommend that available funding should be directed towards creating lasting solutions such as winterisation, repairs, refurbishment of unfinished buildings to create new rental units, and reconstruction. In the meantime, payments of rental subsidies and repair grants have commenced to some refugee families and are being provided to all those eligible over the coming weeks.[2]

Yasir’s wedding

Khuza’a resident Yasir Abu Reda (31) was due to get married this summer following the Muslim month of Ramadan, on the fifth day of the Eid. Everything was ready for the big day. The house had been furnished so that the young couple could move in immediately after the wedding.

“Everything was in place,” said Yasir. “The wedding dress had been bought; my wife-to-be had set up an appointment with a hairdresser; we were just waiting for the big day to come.”

But then the hostilities started. The young couple and their families became displaced. The wedding dress and all of his fiancée’s belongings were destroyed when Israeli forces entered her family home during the ground operation. The new marital home for the young couple was severely damaged. The wedding has been postponed indefinitely.

During the hostilities, Yasir stayed with his family in an UNRWA shelter for forty days. “We left our homes without anything, apart from our ID cards and the clothes we were wearing,” he said. “Because Khuza’a was located in the Israeli-declared buffer zone, we could not even go back to check on our belongings. We heard about the destruction in the area by word of mouth, but we were not sure about the state of our home. We were still hopeful when we returned.

After the ceasefire, Yasir, his mother and brother went back to Khuza’a and found their house totally destroyed. They subsequently moved to live in the rubble of the home designated for the newlyweds ten metres away. Many neighbouring family members of the Abu Reda family also had their homes destroyed or severely damaged and lost crucial livelihood assets such as livestock or olive trees, in addition to their homes and belongings.

Yasir, who is an unemployed engineer, designed the new home himself. “I created a blue room for a baby boy and a pink room for a girl,” he said. “Even the furniture in both rooms was in these colours. We cannot do anything now. We (my mother and I) will go to the caravans and stay there. The wedding is postponed for who knows how long?” The caravans, an alternative housing arrangement offered to some of those who lost their homes, are static prefabricated units provided with water, sewage and electrical power connections. Some are arranged on temporary sites, while others are placed close to destroyed and severely damaged homes.

Problems and tensions are rising between the two families after the wedding was postponed. Yasir is unemployed and cannot afford to rent a proper apartment for himself and his future wife. “It’s not suitable to be married and live in a caravan,” he said. “There is not much privacy, windows are low, the caravans are situated very close to one another, and we won’t know who we’d be living next to. Only if we have the opportunity to rent, can we get married.”

“Winter is coming, so we will go to the caravans… We cannot stay here out in the open. We are afraid of the future for our children, afraid that something bad will happen again. Also, we worry about whether they will fulfil their promises to us to reconstruct our homes or whether we will be left to die in those caravans.

* This article was contributed by the Gaza Shelter Cluster & NFI Cluster