Rebuilding Gaza is one of the greatest city-making tasks in modern history—perhaps all history. Roughly 60 million tons of rubble bestrews an area as large as a midsize American city. Haaretz reported in July 2025 that over 70 percent of buildings have been leveled, a degree of destruction comparable to that in Dresden after its firebombing in World War II. And Gaza faces challenges that Dresden did not, including a festering, unresolved conflict and fragmented political authority.

These challenges have not stopped various governments and organizations from rolling out plans for rebuilding the enclave, and rightly so. As it stands, the Gaza Strip is borderline unlivable.…