Very slowly, Palestinians start repairing damaged homes

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-09-17-rebuilding-gaza_x.htm

<snip>

"Over the past two weeks, a team of workers armed with concrete and yellow paint transformed Ayman Qishta's home from a casualty of Israeli-Palestinian fighting into a symbol of hope for Gaza.

With Israel's pullout, some of the Palestinians who lived on the frontlines of the fighting are slowly beginning to rebuild their homes and plan for a better life.

While the Palestinian leadership says Gaza is still hemmed in and effectively occupied by Israel, and Israel frets about a possible influx of terrorists, 35-year-old Qishta says Israel's withdrawal instantly changed his life.
"I can build, I can do what I want, I'm feeling secure," he said Thursday.


More than 2,700 Gaza homes were demolished and another 2,100 damaged during five years of Israel-Palestinian fighting, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights."

<snip>

"Palestinian officials formed a committee to discuss what to do about damaged and demolished homes. Their occupants will likely get help rebuilding or will be housed in high-rises to be built in Israel's abandoned settlements, Palestinian officials said."