UN reveals startling number of Gaza structures destroyed or damaged in Israeli assault
Gaza - Some 55% of all structures in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed, damaged, or possibly damaged since Israel began its assault on the Palestinian territory eight months ago, according to preliminary satellite analysis by the UN.
The analysis showed more than 137,000 buildings affected, UNOSAT, the United Nations satellite analysis agency, said on X, formerly Twitter.
The estimate is based on a satellite image taken on May 3, and compared with images taken in May a year earlier, last September, and on October 15 – just over a week after Israel began its indiscriminate bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
The fresh satellite image was also compared to images taken during several dates in November, then again during the first months of this year, UNOSAT said.
"According to satellite imagery analysis, UNOSAT identified 36,591 destroyed structures," the agency said in a statement.
In addition, it said it had seen "16,513 severely damaged structures, 47,368 moderately damaged structures, and 36,825 possibly damaged structures for a total of 137,297 structures."
"These correspond to around 5% of the total structures in the Gaza Strip and a total of 135,142 estimated damaged housing units," it said.
UNOSAT reveals hardest-hit areas of Gaza Strip
UNOSAT said the image comparisons showed the governorates of Deir Al-Balah, in the center, and Gaza, in the north, had suffered the worst damage between April 1 and May 3.
Comparing satellite images on those dates indicated that an additional 2,613 structures had been damaged in Deir Al-Balah, while another 2,368 had been damaged in Gaza governorate in just over a month.
Within Deir Al-Balah, the Nuseirat municipality suffered the greatest number of newly damaged structures during that period, at 1,216, UNOSAT said.
The agency stressed that the findings were still part of a preliminary analysis, which had yet to be validated in the field.
Israel has killed at least 36,439 people in Gaza since October, according to the occupied territory's health ministry.
Cover photo: REUTERS