THE Israel-Hamas WAR has claimed the lives of up to 34,000 people. The war also caused serious injuries and cases of acute starvation lasting seven months.
A study of satellite imagery also revealed the extent of massive material damage in Gaza.
“The level of damage recorded is unlike anything we have studied before. “This level of destruction is much faster and more extensive than anything we’ve mapped,” said Corey Scher, a PhD candidate at the City University of New York, who has examined satellite images of Gaza.
The Israeli attack on Rafah caused destruction in the region. Seven months following the war sparked by the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7.
“The fastest rate of destruction occurred in the first two to three months following the bombing,” explains Scher.
In Gaza City, which was home to around 600,000 people before the war, the situation was very bad with almost three-quarters (74.3%) of the buildings damaged or destroyed.
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Five hospitals now destroyed During the war, hospitals in Gaza have been repeatedly attacked by Israel, which accuses Hamas of using them for military purposes, a charge the militant group denies.
In the first six weeks of the war sparked by Hamas attacks, more than 1,170 people were killed, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures, “60% of health facilities were indicated as damaged or destroyed,” Scher said.
The largest hospital in the region, Al-Shifa in Gaza City, was the target of two Israeli army attacks, the first in November, the second in March.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) said the second operation left the hospital with empty rooms full of human corpses.
Five hospitals have been completely destroyed, according to figures compiled by AFP from the OpenStreetMap project, the Hamas health ministry and the United Nations Center for Satellites (UNOSAT). Fewer than one in three hospitals or 28% are partially functional, according to the UN.
More than 70% of schools were damaged. The mostly UN-run schools in the region, where many civilians have sought refuge from the fighting, have also paid the price.
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As of April 25, UNICEF counted at least 408 damaged schools, representing at least 72.5% of a total of 563 school facilities.
Of this number, 53 school buildings were completely destroyed and 274 others were damaged by direct fire. The UN estimates that two-thirds of schools require total or major reconstruction to function once more.
Regarding places of worship, combined UNOSAT and OpenStreetMap data shows that 61.5% of mosques were damaged or destroyed.
The level of destruction in northern Gaza has surpassed that of the German city of Dresden, which was bombed by Allied forces in 1945 in one of the most controversial Allied actions of World War II.
According to a 1954 US military study quoted by the Financial Times, the bombing campaign at the end of World War II damaged 59% of the buildings in Dresden.
In late April, the head of the UN’s mine clearance program in the Palestinian territories, Mungo Birch, said there was more rubble to be cleared in Gaza than in Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia more than two years ago.
The UN estimated that in early May, post-war reconstruction of Gaza would cost between 30 billion and 40 billion dollars. (Z-8)
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