The young Gazan is not a wage worker, but a decision maker in construction.
By: Majdi Shata
My message is directed to everyone who knows they made a promise and broke it, who was entrusted and betrayed, and who spoke and lied. I do not exclude anyone, and I take full responsibility for my words, and no one else shares this responsibility with me, except for those who have a grievance; and here the entire Gazan people become aggrieved.
We have had our fill of false promises.
This is not a rhetorical statement for media consumption, but the summary of 17 years of life for an entire generation in Gaza; a generation born under siege, grew up under bombardment, and is now asked to believe in a new promise of reconstruction.
Let us count your promises.
You promised us in 2009, after the Cast Lead war, at the Sharm El Sheikh Conference for the reconstruction of Gaza. Billions of dollars were announced, but we searched for their impact between Shuja'iyya, Rafah, and Khan Younis, and many questions remained hanging over the rubble of homes.
You promised us in 2014, at the Cairo Conference for the reconstruction of Gaza, more billions. It was said that Gaza would be rebuilt better than it was. Did it really return better? Gaza remained without a port, without an airport, and with crises in electricity, water, and unfinished infrastructure.
In 2021, we heard again that "reconstruction will begin immediately." Projects started, but the gap between real needs and what was achieved on the ground remained wide.
And today, in 2026, we hear promises again: conferences, meetings, commemorative photos, and plans with billions of dollars for the reconstruction of Gaza.
But we are tired of zeros on paper, while the Gazan person wants to see a real impact on the ground: a house, a school, a hospital, a street, and a chance for life.
We have had our fill of false promises from everyone.
We are full of promises from an international community that excels at expressing concern, while the Palestinian waits for real protection and a real right to life and reconstruction.
We do not want reconstruction without protection, nor development without dignity, nor money announced at conferences that then disappears among procedures, conditions, and bureaucracy.
And we are tired of promises from brothers who love Gaza in speeches, while its people today need someone to compete in construction as much as some compete in issuing statements of solidarity and condemnation.
And the hardest part of all is that we are tired of promises from ourselves.
From a loathsome Palestinian division that has made Gaza at many times a bargaining chip. Each party wants the reconstruction process to go through them, and in the end, the citizen is the one who pays the price and waits.
That is why we say today:
The time for promises has ended, and the time for guarantees has begun.
In any serious discussion about the future of Gaza's reconstruction, what is required is not more commitments, but clear guarantees that people can see and hold accountable those responsible for them.
First: Guarantee of Transparency
Not a single dollar allocated for the reconstruction of Gaza should remain out of the public's sight.
We want an open digital platform through which citizens can know the amount of funding, the funding entity, the project, the contractor, the percentage of completion, the timeline, and the beneficiaries.
The time for ambiguity has ended.
Every dollar for the reconstruction of Gaza is a right for the people, and they have the right to know where it went and how it was spent.
Second: Guarantee for Youth
We do not want the youth of Gaza to become mere wage workers in the workshops of rebuilding their homeland.
The young Gazan is not a wage worker, but he is the owner of the land, a partner in decision-making, and has a right to build.
Palestinian youth must be present in planning, oversight, implementation, and evaluation, and youth frameworks and active community institutions must be part of the oversight and accountability system for reconstruction projects.
The youth who lived through war, destruction, and displacement are the most capable of expressing the needs of their communities, and it is unacceptable for Gaza's future to be drawn away from them.
Third: Guarantee of Sustainability
We do not want to rebuild what was only.
We want to build the Gaza of the future.
Gaza that produces a large part of its energy from the sun, recycles its waste, conserves its water, uses technology in managing its cities, and creates job opportunities for its youth.
We want schools, hospitals, housing, and infrastructure capable of resilience, not temporary projects waiting for the next crisis.
We want reconstruction that makes the Palestinian person more capable of living, not more dependent on aid.
And to our people in Gaza
You have the right, after all that has happened, not to believe the promises.
Do not believe the words alone.
Believe in the project when it begins.
Believe in the numbers when they become announced before you.
Believe in oversight when the citizen can ask and hold accountable.
And believe in the house when the family receives its key in hand.
We have had our fill of false promises, and we are hungry for one honest action.
One action that builds a house is better than a thousand conferences that build an illusion.
And Gaza does not want the world to pity it, but to grant its people their right to be partners in shaping their future.
The time for talk has ended.
And the time for action has come.
From Amman to Gaza… the young Gazan is not a wage worker, but a decision maker in construction.
