Satellite images show 35% of Gaza’s building destroyed, UN says

GENEVA (Reuters): Satellite images analyzed by the United Nations Satellite Center show that 35 percent of the Gaza Strip’s buildings have been destroyed or damaged in the Israel offensive in the Palestinian enclave.

Israel’s assault, launched in response to attacks by Hamas militants in southern Israel on Oct. 7, has killed nearly 32,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run territory. About 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas raid on Israel.

In its assessment, the United Nations Satellite Center, UNOSAT, used high-resolution satellite images collected on Feb. 29 and compared them with images taken before and after the start of the latest conflict.

It found that 35 percent of all buildings in the Gaza Strip — 88,868 structures — had been damaged or destroyed.

Among these, it identified 31,198 structures as destroyed, 16,908 as severely damaged, and 40,762 as moderately damaged.

This represents an increase of nearly 20,000 damaged structures compared to the previous assessment it did based on images taken in January that showed 30 percent of all buildings had been damaged or destroyed, UNOSAT said.

“The governorates of Khan Younis and Gaza have experienced the most significant rise in damage, with Khan Yunis seeing 12,279 additional damaged structures and Gaza experiencing 2,010,” UNOSAT said.

“Khan Younis City has been hit particularly hard, with 6,663 newly destroyed structures.”