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Monday, June 3, 2024
UN estimates over half of Gaza structures may be destroyed or damaged
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Some 55 percent of all structures in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed, damaged or possibly damaged since war erupted, according to preliminary satellite analysis by the UN.
The analysis shows more than 137,000 buildings possibly affected, UNOSAT, the United Nations satellite analysis agency, says 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, in September, and on October 15 — just over a week after Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war.
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 says 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 55 percent of the total structures in the Gaza Strip and a total of 135,142 estimated damaged housing units,” it says.
The Times of Israel Community.