Considering the Israel-Egypt blockade of Gaza, how are all the buildings, streets, etc. built? What industry does Gaza have? From the footage of the war, it’s a dense, urban, modern-looking landscape, with tall-ish buildings, hospitals, schools, etc. Where do the materials, financing, and expertise come from?
As the news mentions, since there is no industry to speak of, and precious little farm land, everything was trucked in as aid from foreign countries or supplied by the Israelis. Before the blockade, the news mentions that up to 400 or 500 trucks a day loaded with necessitied would enter the strip - presumably through the Raffah crossing. The hold-up since Oct 7 is a combination of Israel demanding the goods be properly searched for weapon materials, and Hams off and on closing the border. (At one point, hamas was demanding that about 50 of its injured fighteers get medical treatment in Egypt, and Israel refused to allow that.) Similarly, Israel has refused to allow fuel into the Strip claiming it could be used by Hamas to power ventilation and lights in the tunnels.
But obviously some construction material is necessary and allowed to be imported - and more will be necessary when things settle down. A lot more…
Presumably cement was something imported from Egypt. The construction in Gaza seems pretty common in the middle east, that’s the same as is visible in Egypt - concrete pillar and floor construction, filled in with bricks. I don’t know if Gaza has sources of clay-like material for bricks and tiles…
Ragarding the need for construction material for rebuilding – Remember when Israel banned shipment of cement into Gaza? I wonder if they’ll try that again.
Cinderblocks, not bricks. Brick construction is very rare in the Middle East.
Here’s a very thorough economic assessment of Gaza and the West Bank from the US Dept of State published earlier this year:
Gaza has a small port mostly used by fishing boats. Larger ships have been blocked by Israel since 2007, although I understand that they make some exceptions.