With no cement or construction materials being allowed by Israel or Egypt into the Gaza Strip, residents are starting to build homes out of mud, using earth excavated from smuggling tunnels that provide an uncertain lifeline to the outside world.
One of the first people to build a mud house, after two years of an Israeli blockade of the Hamas-run coastal enclave, was Jihad Muhammad Shaer, 36, a preacher in the southern strip. With tens of thousands left homeless after the war earlier this year, Gaza’s Hamas rulers are now planning to construct homes, clinics, kindergartens and even mosques from mud.
Even before the month-long war that Israel launched in December to crush Palestinian rocket fire, construction materials were in short supply. Aside from a few special projects, such as a sewage treatment plant championed by Tony Blair, the Middle East envoy, no cement has been allowed into Gaza since Hamas took power two years ago.
The recent war left at least 50,000 people homeless. After it finished, the international community gathered in Egypt to pledge billions of dollars in aid. Israel, however, has refused to allow in cement or metal, arguing that the materials could be used by Hamas to build bunkers or rockets. By treaty, Egypt has also kept its border shut to all but medical supplies. “Cement is $200 for a bag which used to cost $20,” said one Western aid worker.
Despairing of any construction materials arriving soon, Hamas has earmarked $1 million (£600,000) to develop temporary, three-storey mud homes, inspired largely by Mr Shaer’s modest house on the sand dunes outside Rafah.
“Our ancestors used to live in mud houses and were happy so I decided to try it,” said Mr Shaer, showing off his two-bedroom home, which is cool in summer and warm in winter. Shelves and even beds are built into the adobe-covered infrastructure for a fraction of the cost it would take to build a concrete house.
The house, covering 70 sq m (750 sq ft), took two months to build and cost $3,000. Built just before the war began, it has withstood the winter rains and now protects the preacher, his wife and their young children from the harsh summer heat. “The walls are also good because they are bulletproof,” smiled Mr Shaer, before adding: “But we really need rocket-proof homes.”
Finding large amounts of mud is not difficult in Gaza. Since the Hamas takeover, smuggling tunnels have flourished under the border with Egypt. These days, the border town of Rafah looks like a First World War battlefield, with an estimated 1,000 tunnels snaking out under the frontier, emerging into the ruins of bombed-out buildings.
“When I was making mud bricks, everyone was making fun of me,” Mr Shaer said. “They said: ‘We are trying to develop, and you are going backwards’. Then they visited the house and some started building them themselves.” He built his house to escape from the overcrowded apartment he had shared with his extended family.
One of his visitors was Abdulamir El Mansi, Gaza’s minister of public works. He was so impressed that he ordered a test project to try out new mud and wood structures. Gaza engineers are now working on three-storey mud homes and hope to construct a kindergarten, NGO offices, a clinic and homes for the homeless.
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