Palestinians look through the rubble of a damaged building after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009. Two and a half weeks of Israel's fierce assaults on Gaza's Hamas rulers have destroyed at least $1.4 billion worth of buildings, water pipes, roads, power lines and other assets, independent Palestinian surveyors say. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)From Yahoo News/AP:
RAMALLAH, West Bank – Israel's fierce assault on Gaza's Hamas rulers has destroyed at least $1.4 billion worth of buildings, roads, pipes, power lines and other infrastructure in already impoverished territory, Palestinian surveyors estimate.
Arab and Western countries will be called on to foot much of the bill to rebuild — which Palestinian economists say could take five years or more.
The Israeli military says it has bombed over 2,500 Hamas-linked targets since Dec. 27, including 250 tunnels the militant group used to smuggle in arms as well as large amounts of weapon stockpiles and rocket launcher squads.
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