Destruction in Gaza: Charts show that at least half of the buildings in the Strip were damaged or demolished
image source, Getty Images
Even the refugee camps in Gaza are not immune from attacks.
- author, Daniel Palumbo, Paul Kusiak and Erwan Riewoldt
- role, BBC Verify and BBC Arabic
More than half of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed since Israel began retaliating for Hamas attacks on October 7, according to a new analysis seen by the BBC.
Detailed before-and-after images also show how the bombardment of southern Gaza has intensified in recent weeks, and the city Khan Younis has suffered the most Israel’s military operations.
Israel has repeatedly asked Gazans to move south for their own safety.
Throughout Gaza, Residential areas are in ruinsThe once busy shopping streets have been reduced to rubble Destroyed universities And Abandoned agricultural landAnd tent cities have sprung up along the southern border to house many thousands of people who have been left homeless.
about 1.7 million people – over 80% of Gaza’s population– are displaced, according to the United Nations, and about half have filled the southern end of the Strip.
Further analysis, carried out by BBC Verify, shows the extent of the destruction of farmland, identifying multiple areas of widespread damage.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have said they are attacking both Hamas fighters and “Terrorist Infrastructure”When questioned about the magnitude of the damage.
Now, analysis of satellite data obtained by the BBC reveals the true extent of the destruction.
The analysis suggests that between 144,000 and 175,000 buildings in the Gaza Strip have been damaged or destroyed. That’s it Between 50% and 61% of all buildings in Gaza.
The analysis, conducted by Corey Sher of the City University of New York and Jamon van den Hoek of Oregon State University, points to sudden changes in the height or structure of buildings that indicate damage.
Destruction moves south
The southern city of Khan Younis has been particularly hard-hit in recent weeks, with 38,000 (or more than 46%) buildings destroyed or damaged, according to the analysis.
In last 15 days only, More than 1,500 buildings were destroyed or damage there.
Torre El Fara, a 16-story residential block in the city center, the tallest building in the area, was demolished on January 9, as seen in before-and-after images of the city’s skyline.
Much of the neighborhood in which it is located has been devastated by Israeli attacks since late December.
“Israeli forces They attacked a residential complexEspecially in the central Khan Younis area,” said Rawan Kaddah, a 20-year-old resident who has been displaced and lost contact with her family.
He mentioned schools among the many damaged buildings. Some were used for now Provide temporary shelter to displaced people.
You can clearly see the level of damage from street level. Once bustling main streets have been abandoned or destroyed.
The images show the front of the Sanabel shawarma restaurant before the Israeli invasion and what the same intersection looked like in a composite image from January after the area was heavily bombed.
Widespread damage across Gaza
The IDF has repeatedly justified its actions by pointing out that Hamas deliberately embeds itself in civilian areas And they explained that the destruction of the buildings was in the context of an attack on fighters.
But there are questions about the destruction of buildings that were apparently under IDF control.
One example was Isra University in northern Gaza, which was initially severely damaged shortly before being completely blown up in a massive, controlled explosion.
The video was widely shared on social media and the IDF says the approval process for the explosion is now being examined.
Many historic sites in Gaza suffered extensive damageincluding the Al Omri Mosque, originally built in the 7th century.
Sher, one of the scholars who worked on assessing the damage in Gaza, said it stands out compared to other war zones he has analyzed.
“We have worked in Ukraine, we have also investigated Aleppo (in Syria) and other cities, but Extent and speed of damage They are significant. I have never seen so much damage appear so quickly“
Destruction of Gaza’s agricultural lands
Further analysis, carried out by BBC Verify, shows that large areas of previously agricultural land in Gaza have been heavily damaged.
As can be seen in the satellite image below, parts of Gaza show the effects of Israeli raids and bombings.
Although Gaza relied heavily on imports before the start of the war, most of its food came from agriculture and food production in the Strip.
Aid agencies say Half of Gaza’s population now faces starvation.
The BBC Arabic service spoke to a farmer, Said, who fled south from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza in mid-November.
The 33-year-old grew guavas, figs, lemons, oranges, mint and basil and earned around US$6,000 per year from these crops, the sole source of income for him, his father and his sister. He looked after the farm inherited from his grandparents for 15 years.
But days after fleeing, he says a relative told him the farm had been destroyed by the IDF, along with five houses around it that belonged to his relatives.
In northern and central Gaza, where most of the farming was done before the war, A large part of the land appears to have been destroyed.
In many places the damage corresponded to the clearing of earth banks and surrounding land to protect temporary Israeli defenses, armored vehicles.
The BBC understands that some farmers have lost their crops despite their land not being directly affected.
Mohammed al-Masaddar, a farmer from Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, He has only been able to visit his farm once since the war began.
Arriving during the ceasefire in November, the oranges were scattered and rotting on the ground. “The orange harvest date coincided with the start of the war. No one would have dared to go there.”
say what More than 90% of its crops were lost of oranges.
Besides the lands affected by road demolition and defense construction, there are Charges of willful destruction by the IDF.
In a video posted online on November 4, the deputy head of the Civil Administration, Col. Yogev Bar-Shesh, said in an interview from inside Gaza: “Whoever returns here, if he returns later, Scorched earth will be found. No house, no farming, nothing, They have no future“
The IDF told us They found entrances to Hamas tunnels and rocket launch sites in many agricultural areasadding that “operational requirements require that these locations be destroyed or attacked.”
“Combat and exchange of fire can damage the environment.”
Aid experts fear damage to Gaza’s agriculture Be sustainable.
Previous conflicts, such as those in Syria and Ukraine, have shown that rehabilitating agricultural land can be extremely difficult.
Unexploded weapons make it It is dangerous for farmers to return and work.
There is also the challenge of cleaning up contaminated land and rebuilding infrastructure such as water, energy and transport systems.
A tent city emerges
The last obvious change in Gaza that can be seen from the air is A spread of tents and other temporary structures to house displaced people in the south.
New tent areas that emerged in early December and mid-January near the Egyptian border were almost completely covered. 3.5 square kilometersThat is equivalent to around 500 Premier League football fields.
Satellite images captured on December 3 and January 14 show a dramatic change: almost all of the accessible, undeveloped land in the area northwest of Rafah is now developed. Shelter for displaced people.
When it launched its campaign against Hamas, Israel asked Palestinians living in northern and central Gaza to move south to protect themselves.
Many have ended up in Rafah and face an uncertain future.
Additional reporting by Jack Horton, Tural Ahmadzadeh, Benedict German, Lamis Altalebi and Abdelrahman Abutaleb.
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