As reconstruction materials remain blocked, Palestinians are crushing debris into interlocking blocks to build shelters from destruction.

Inside a makeshift workshop in Gaza, rebuilt after it was damaged by Israeli air strikes, Suleiman Abu Hassanin stands among piles of broken concrete, trying to give them a new form. His voice over the phone sounds tired, carrying the weight of what he is trying to do: rebuild in a place where building materials are no longer available.

Gaza’s construction crisis did not begin with the latest war. For years, the Israeli blockade restricted the entry of cement, steel, and other building materials, slowing reconstruction efforts across the enclave. But after nearly two years of intensified bombardment, the scale of destruction has pushed the system far beyond collapse.

According to UN estimates, Gaza now contains more than 60 million tons of rubble, while hundreds of thousands of displaced people continue to live in tents with little protection from heat or winter chill and no clear prospect for reconstruction.

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