Nearly 70 Percent of Gaza Homes Have Been Destroyed by Israeli Forces

Jan 1, 2024

Smoke rises over Gaza, as seen from southern Israel, December 27 [Amir Cohen/Reuters]

Fireworks lit up across the night sky as the world ushered in the New Year. But as the rest of the world start 2024 with optimism and a fresh perspective, the people of Palestine have begun their new year in mourning and abject terror. With over 21,000 dead and millions displaced, there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel for Palestine.

Israel’s merciless bombardment of the Gaza Strip has resulted in the destruction of 70 percent of the homes in the war-torn Palestinian enclave, according to the Government Media Office.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, nearly 300,000 out of 439,000 homes have been destroyed in Israeli attacks since October of last year. The report added that 29,000 munitions and shells were dropped by Israeli forces in the same time frame.

Satellite imagery showed that the explosives were primarily targeted at residential areas, hospitals, Byzantine churches and shopping malls. Most of these infrastructure were damaged to an extent that they cannot be repaired. An earlier report by the Government Media Office said more than 200 heritage and archaeological sites were also destroyed by Israeli forces.

In nearly two months, Israeli bombardment of Gaza has wreaked more destruction than the Allied bombing of Germany in World War II and has killed more civilians than the United States led coalition did in its three year campaign against ISIS.

Corey Scher of the CUNY Graduate Center and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University told the Associated Press, “Gaza is now a different colour from space. It’s a different texture.”

According to the Government Media Office, over 21,822 people have been killed since October 7th, 2023. More than 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced by the ruthless onslaught of Israel and are now living in shelters, according to a UN report. 105 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war, according to the Government Media Office.

Tags: Israel Palestine War