Palestinians look out from an apartment that was destroyed in Israel's military offensive in the Zaitoun neighborhood of Gaza City earlier this month. (Wissam Nassar, Maan Images)

Israeli forces used aerial bombing, tank shelling and armoured bulldozers to eliminate the productive capacity of some of Gaza's most important manufacturing plants during their 22 days of military action in the Gaza Strip.

The attacks - like those which destroyed at least 4,000 homes, left some residential areas resembling an earthquake zone and more than 50,000 people in temporary shelters at their peak - destroyed or severely damaged 219 factories, Palestinian industrialists say.

Leaders of Gaza's business community - who have long stayed aloof from the different Palestinian political factions - say that much of the 3 per cent of industry still operating after the 18-month shutdown caused by Israel's economic siege has now been destroyed.

Chris Gunness, chief spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said that widespread destruction of "civilian economic infrastructure" was a strike "at the heart of the peace process" because "economic stability is an essential component of a durable peace."

While the main impact of the destruction is likely to be on the already politically fraught prospects of medium to long-term reconstruction in Gaza, it it is unlikely to make efforts to help its many stricken and displaced residents any easier.

It is those humanitarian relief efforts for which the main British aid agencies are appealing for help in the advertisement so far barred by the BBC.

Meanwhile, the UNRWA is separately pressing donors for $345m for immediate repairs to homes still standing and to its own damaged premises.

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The destroyed factories include: Alweyda, the biggest Palestinian food-processing plant and the only one still operating in Gaza until the war; Abu Eida, the largest, and now flattened, ready-mixed concrete producer; and the 89-year-old Al Badr flour mills, which have the biggest storage facilities anywhere in the Strip.

The owners of all three said yesterday they were proud of their close and long-standing contact with Israeli partner firms and suppliers.

Dr Yaser Alweyda, owner and engineering director of the demolished food-processing plant, estimated the total damage to his plant at $22.5m and accused Israel of wanting "to destroy the weak Palestinian economy".

He added: "They want to ensure that we will never have a state in Palestine."

Tawfiq Abu Eida, the owner of the concrete factory, said he had been preparing just before the war to supply the Beit Lahiya sewage works, a key project of the Middle East envoy Tony Blair.

To read the full article please visit The Independent.