Long way to go to rebuild society Gaza after conflict: UN official

An official from a United Nations (UN) humanitarian agency emphasized on Sunday that there is a long way to go to rebuild Gaza physically, mentally, and culturally after the conflict.

Georgios Petropoulos, head of the Sub-office in Gaza for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that reconstruction of Gazan society will take far more than erecting new buildings.

"It's a mathematical equation of time and money, as it usually is. But to rebuild a society and an economy and a culture, that takes a little bit longer, as we all know. And the rebuilding is not just the physical aspects of schools, hospitals, universities and and homes, but it's to rebuild and to plan for and to repair the damage that's going to be done to children that may be out of school for almost two years, to families that have been completely decimated, they had loved ones killed. An agricultural system which used to be lively, which is on its knees, fisheries that are destroyed, unemployment that is almost complete now, you know you have to understand that at this point we don't even have the ability to bring cash into Gaza. So whatever you have can't really move around in the market," he said.

"Thousands of children will not be able to rebuild their lives because they don't have any legs or arms. They've been blown off there. They're the most significant and tragic victims of this war," the UN official added.

Although the UN is working on an early recovery plan, a ceasefire -- which is essential for Gaza's reconstruction -- must first be achieved, Petropoulos said.

"So rebuilding Gaza, I think, is an easy question with a very complicated answer. I can tell you that the United Nations and partners, as we do, are already working with donors in member states on an early recovery plan and the development process. But that's all going to have to be in the air until we understand exactly what the intentions and the political will is around not just a ceasefire, but stopping the daily tragedy of the people in Gaza and seeing how long it's going to take for them to stop being under fire, and how long it's going to take for the hostages to be sent back to their families. They have now also spent a year waiting with no word for hundreds of people that should be in the safe arms of their family," he said.

"So until those two things come to play, we're not going to have an answer of how long it's going to take to rebuild Gaza. And I think the last thing that I'll say on that is that my hope, and our hope is that whatever that rebuilding takes, the planning includes the people of Gaza -- how they want to see their land look and how they want it to be run, and what they want their future to look like," Petropoulos continued.

Long way to go to rebuild society Gaza after conflict: UN official

Long way to go to rebuild society Gaza after conflict: UN official

The Shenzhou-18 crew members aboard China's orbiting space station Tiangong have captured the spectacular panoramic views of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China and the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the coast of southern island province of Hainan.

On April 25, China launched the Shenzhou-18 manned spacecraft, sending three astronauts into the space station for a six-month mission. With their mission drawing to a close, the three astronauts are expected to return to Earth later this month.

During their mission, the three astronauts, Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu, have marveled at the stunning landscapes, from snow-white seas of clouds to vibrant blue oceans and cities lit up at night.

During their downtime, the crew gaze through the windows of the space station, recording the majestic views of China. Ye and Li introduced the views of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site they captured from space.

"Hello, I'm astronaut Ye Guangfu. Today, please follow my camera as we are taking a bird's eye view of Dongfeng Space City. What you see now is the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, established in October 1958. It is the earliest and the largest comprehensive space launch center in China and the only manned space launch site in the country. It is a land that embodies the glory and dreams of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and is also the birthplace of the space industry, which has fostered the spirit of 'Two Bombs, One Satellite,' the spirit of manned space flight, and the Dongfeng spirit. From here, you can see that the area on the left is the working and living area of Dongfeng Space City, while the area on the right is the launch site, from which we embarked on our journey to space," said Ye.

"The Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site is located in the east of Hainan Island. This is the first open launch site in China and one of the few low-latitude launch sites in the world. The Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site is also known as 'the mother port for China's space station construction'. In 2020, the test module of a new generation of manned spacecraft went to space from the spacecraft launch site . In April 2021, Tianhe Core Module was launched from there. Since then, two lab modules named Wentian and Mengtian have also been launched from there. In the future, it will serve as the main launch site for China's manned lunar exploration mission, and we are also looking forward to leaving the footprints of Chinese people on the moon in the future," Li said.

China's Shenzhou-18 astronauts share bird's eye views of launch sites