The nearly year-long war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas has killed tens of thousands of people, and had what aid agencies have described as a catastrophic humanitarian impact.
But the sheer scale of bombardment and violence of the fighting have also disfigured the densely-populated Palestinian territory’s urban landscape. AFP looks at the material impact of the war in Gaza.
– 169,000 buildings damaged or destroyed
Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on the planet. Before the war 2.4 million people had been living on a 365-square-kilometre (140-square-mile) strip of land.
By September 13, 2024, nearly 59 per cent of the Gaza Strip’s buildings had been damaged or destroyed, according to satellite imagery analysed by US researchers Corey Scher and Jamon Van Den Hoek. That amounts to close to 169,000 buildings.
The worst damage was done in the first two or three months after Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war, the researchers said.
Hamas’s unprecedented assault resulted in the death of 1,205 on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
The figure includes hostages killed in captivity in the Gaza Strip.
Since October 7, at least 41,455 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, according to data provided by the health ministry in the Hamas-run Strip.
Those figures are acknowledged as reliable by the UN.
– Rafah city half destroyed
Before the war, Gaza City in the north of the territory was home to some 600,000 people. Almost three-quarters of its buildings have been damaged or destroyed.
In Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city along the border with Egypt, the Israeli army launched a ground offensive in early May.
Although relatively spared compared to Gaza City, gutted facades and buildings stand testament to the scars of war.
Rights group Amnesty International said that 90 per cent of the buildings along 58 square kilometres of Gaza’s border territory with Israel appear to have been “destroyed or severely damaged” between October 2023 and May 2024.
– Hospitals not functional
During the war, Gaza’s hospitals have been repeatedly attacked by Israel, which accuses Hamas of using them for military purposes, a charge the militant group denies.
The territory’s largest hospital, Al Shifa in Gaza City, was targeted in two offensives by the Israeli army, the first in November, the second in March.
The World Health Organization said the second operation reduced the hospital to an “empty shell” strewn with human remains.
By August only 16 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals, or 44 per cent, were partially functioning, according to the WHO.
Data from the UN’s Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) and geographic database OpenStreetMap also indicate that more than 60 per cent of Gaza’s mosques have been damaged or destroyed.
– Nearly 85 per cent of schools damaged
The territory’s largely UN-run schools, where many civilians have sought refuge from the fighting, have also paid a heavy price, with the Israeli army accusing Hamas of using them to hide its fighters.
As of July 6, UNICEF counted 477 schools damaged, representing nearly 85 per cent of its count of 564 facilities.
Of those, 133 have been seriously damaged and another 344 directly hit.
In September the UN’s global fund for education in emergencies, Education Cannot Wait, said nearly 90 percent of Gaza’s school buildings had been damaged or destroyed.
– 68 per cent of farmland
According to UN satellite imagery dating from August 27, 68 per cent of Gaza’s farmland has been damaged, or 102 square kilometres. That includes 78 per cent of north Gaza’s farmland and 57 percent of Rafah’s.
In addition, 68 per cent of Gaza’s road network has been damaged.
About 1,190 kilometres of roads have been destroyed, 415 kilometres badly damaged and 1,440 kilometres moderately damaged, according to a preliminary analysis by UNOSAT taking into account data up to August 18.
“It is unimaginable, the level of suffering in Gaza, the level of deaths and destruction have no parallel in everything I’ve witnessed since (becoming) secretary-general,” UN chief Antonio Guterres said earlier this month.
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