India, Aug. 23 -- When the guns finally fall silent in Gaza, the urgency to rebuild will be overwhelming. Hospitals must reopen, schools must welcome children again, and families need roofs over their heads. Yet if history is any guide, the instinct to build quickly can be as dangerous as the instinct to bomb. Unless reconstruction is anchored in long-term vision and local ownership, it risks becoming just another cycle of ruin and repair.

The numbers are staggering. By mid-2025, around 70% of Gaza's buildings had been damaged or destroyed. Surveys suggest that nearly nine out of ten commercial and industrial sites are unusable. The economy, once fragile, has been reduced to rubble. At the same time, famine thresholds have been crossed a...