Nearly one million Palestinians fled northern Gaza, including the area’s urban center, Gaza City, as ground fighting intensified.
The Israeli army’s use of powerful explosives in densely populated residential areas, which Israel describes as the inevitable result of Hamas’ use of civilian sites as a cover for its operations, has led to the deaths of more than 14,000 Palestinians and horrific destruction.
Hamas denies this allegation, and accuses Israel of recklessly bombing civilians.
Intense bombing and massive destruction
The Associated Press quoted Emily Tripp, director of Air Wars, an organization that tracks conflicts based in London, as saying that the Israeli bombing has become one of the most intense air campaigns since World War II.
In the seven weeks following the unprecedented October 7 Hamas attack, Israel released more munitions than the United States has released in any year from the bombing campaign targeting ISIS.
About half of the buildings in northern Gaza were destroyed or demolished, according to an analysis of satellite data.
Many wonder whether Gaza will ever recover after 1.7 million people are displaced, according to United Nations estimates.
In this regard, Raphael Cohen, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, said: “The displaced will end up living in tents for a long time.”
Extremely difficult humanitarian conditions
The war destroyed 27 of 35 hospitals across Gaza, putting them out of business, according to the World Health Organization.
“Bakeries and mills have been destroyed, as have agricultural, water and sanitation facilities,” says Scott Paul, senior humanitarian policy advisor at Oxfam America. “You need more than four walls and a roof to make a place livable, and in many cases, people are even unable to live.” “On that.”
Across the entire enclave, more than 41,000 homes, 45 percent of Gaza’s total housing, are too damaged to live in, according to the United Nations.
Al-Shati refugee camp witnessed 14,000 cases of war damage (ranging from craters caused by aerial bombardments to collapsed buildings) in just 0.5 square kilometers of land, satellite data analyzes showed.
As for the situation in the south of the Gaza Strip, satellite data showed an increase in destruction around the city of Khan Yunis, and residents say that the Israeli army bombarded the eastern parts with evacuation warnings.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants the army to restore security in Gaza, and American officials have pushed the seemingly unlikely scenario of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority taking control of the Strip.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected this idea in the absence of Israeli efforts towards a “two-state solution.”
Despite the horrors of war, many Palestinians hope that reconstruction will provide an opportunity to transform Gaza’s dilapidated refugee camps and long-deteriorating infrastructure into a more habitable, equitable and humane place.
However, other Palestinians say that it is not only the destroyed infrastructure that requires rebuilding, but also the community that has been traumatized by recent events.
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