“The level of destruction in northern Gaza has surpassed that of the German city of Dresden, which was firebombed by Allied forces in 1945”.
The Gaza Strip has experienced unprecedented destruction during the ongoing genocidal war starting on October 7 and “the rate of damage being registered is unlike anything we have studied before,” Agence France Presse reported on Tuesday.
According to AFP, satellite analyses reveal that 56.9 percent of Gaza’s buildings were damaged or destroyed by April 21, affecting a total of 160,000 structures.
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Corey Scher, a PhD candidate at the City University of New York, who has been researching satellite imagery of Gaza, is quoted as saying that “the rate of damage being registered is unlike anything we have studied before.”
“It is much faster and more extensive than anything we have mapped,” Scher reportedly added.
The situation is particularly dire in Gaza City, where nearly three-quarters of buildings have been damaged or destroyed.
Additionally, hospitals in Gaza have also suffered, being “repeatedly attacked by Israel”.
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Al-Shifa Medical Complex, Gaza City’s largest hospital, was hit in two offensives, leaving it severely damaged.
Five hospitals have been completely destroyed, and only 28 percent of hospitals are partially functioning. The numbers provided by the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza were confirmed by the OpenStreetMap project and the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT), according to AFP.
UN-run schools, where civilians sought refuge, have also paid a heavy price.
Around 72.5 percent of schools have been damaged, with 53 completely destroyed and 274 others damaged by direct fire, according to the report.
The United Nations estimates that two-thirds of schools will need major reconstruction to become functional again.
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Additionally, places of worship, including mosques, have been significantly affected.
“The level of destruction in northern Gaza has surpassed that of the German city of Dresden, which was firebombed by Allied forces in 1945 in one of the most controversial Allied acts of World War II,” the report added.
Gaza Genocide
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 34,844 Palestinians have been killed, and 78,404 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
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Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
