Over 50% Of All Buildings Damaged Or Destroyed In Gaza Strip

Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip has reached 100 days, throughout which time cities in the north and south have been relentlessly bombed, and in some places entire neighborhoods, streets, and city blocks have been wiped out almost as if they were never there.

A new report in Axios has made the shocking claim that over half of all buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, based on fresh satellite data.

Palestinians there have increasingly said there’s no place to go, after much of the northern half of the Strip has been largely emptied out, and an estimated 85% of the population remains displaced. 

“Damage is greatest in the north, where between 70-80% of buildings are damaged or destroyed, according to the analysis of satellite data, which was conducted by Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University and Corey Scher of CUNY Graduate Center,” writes Axios, while offering the below visual…

Israel’s military (IDF) is heavily reliant on US munitions, even including mammoth 2,000 pound bombs capable of obliterating large buildings.

This month, Israel has declared its forces have moved to a third phase of the war, which reportedly will see bombings and airstrikes scaled back in intensity, in favor of more “targeted” operations. Currently, there’s still heavy fighting and air raids focused on Khan Yunis, in the south of the Strip. 

This “shift” in IDF strategy and tactics comes after weeks of requests from Washington for the IDF to reign in the indiscriminate air campaign as international pressure mounts over the immense Palestinian death toll.

Israel has also said it is calling many reservists back home at this point; however, the ground war rages on. Even the largest of bombs dropped from the air cannot dismantle the sprawling network of tunnels used by Hamas for ambushes. Israel has been pumping sea water into many of them; however, they are so vast that it’s likely impossible to flood all of them. 

This means the ground war is likely to press on for months, with prior Israeli government statements foreseeing that fighting will continue through this entire year.