Feature: Two years after ceasefire in Gaza, reconstruction moves at slow pace

Two years after the ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza, nothing much has changed for aging Um Hassan Moghani and her large family. They still live amid the debris of their destroyed home.

The old lady, just like thousands of others, is still waiting to have her three-storey home rebuilt after it was totally destroyed during the fierce fighting in East of Gaza City.

In 2014, Israel launched an all-out offensive on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip to stop Palestinian rocket fire into its territories. The war left around 2,140 Palestinians dead and more than 10,000 injured.

Despite the ceasefire in September 2014, real reconstruction of thousands of destroyed homes and facilities has scarcely begun, while the Israeli blockade on the territory has been in place since 2007.

According to the United Nations, around 100,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip became displaced at the end of the Israeli offensive.

Um Hassan's 35-member family now lives in the remaining part of what once used to be a big home.

"We were given caravans to live in right after the war, but it is very hot in summer, so we returned to live in the rubbles of our destroyed home," the lady said as she sipped from a hot cup of tea.

Sitting on an old plastic chair with her young grandchildren playing around, Um Hassan said it is unsafe to stay at a home with almost no walls.

"Rats live with us...It is even worse in winter because parts of the roof have already collapsed and we can barely protect ourselves from the rain," she said.

Um Hassan said she needs a better future for her grandchildren, complaining about the slow process of Gaza reconstruction.

"We want a home, a roof over our heads," she said painfully.

In October 2014, international donors pledged 3.5 billion U.S. dollars to support Gaza. But according to the World Bank, only an estimated 40 percent of the amount had been disbursed by April this year.

Recently, UN agencies working in the blockaded Palestinian territory said that the United Nations considers "de-development" in Gaza, a process by which development is not merely hindered but reversed.

Construction materials are shipped into Gaza from Israel through an UN-supervised program that ensures the goods are not diverted to Hamas military projects.

However, the tight Israeli blockade imposed on the war-torn territory is still one of the main obstacles hindering the reconstruction in Gaza.

The UN agencies called for a greater flow of material and funding to address humanitarian needs and boost economic prospects for Gaza's 1.9 million residents.

"There is a reconstruction process, but it is very slow," Adnan Abu Hasna, spokesman for UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East told Xinhua.

He revealed that it will take long years to get things back to normal in Gaza, adding things get worse as the population increases.

"This population needs tens of thousands of homes, infrastructure and electricity. We are moving so slowly," he complained, adding that "only 3000 of 9500 totally destroyed have been rebuilt in two years."

Meanwhile, Palestinian statistics revealed that some 65,000 Palestinians are still homeless after the end of the last large-scale Israeli military offensive on Gaza.

Frequent conflicts as well as the Israeli restrictions have paralyzed the economy of Gaza, especially the construction sector, which used to be the backbone of Gaza's economy.

"It has been two years now since the war ended, and nothing has changed so far. I guess we need 30 years to rebuild Gaza under the UN program," Gaza brick factory owner Awaf Jaror said. Endit