A UN agency has said that rebuilding Gaza will cost an estimated $30 billion to $40bn and require an effort on a scale the world has not seen since World War II, AFP reports.

“The United Nations Development Programme’s initial estimates for the reconstruction of … the Gaza Strip surpasses $30bn and could reach up to $40bn,” said UN assistant secretary-general Abdallah al-Dardari.

“The scale of the destruction is huge and unprecedented […] this is a mission that the global community has not dealt with since World War II.”