More than 350000 homes destroyed or damaged in Gaza

More than 350,000 homes destroyed or damaged in Gaza

More than 500,000 Palestinians will be unable to return to their homes after the end of the conflict

The Israeli army destroyed around 65,000 houses. (Photo: PL).



The Israeli army destroyed about 65,000 houses and damaged another 290,000 in the Gaza Strip since its aggression began on October 7, a UN agency reported on January 4.

In its latest report on the situation in the coastal enclave, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) highlighted that more than 500,000 Palestinians are unable to return to their homes after the end of the conflict.

Many more would not be able to return immediately due to the damage to surrounding infrastructure and the threat of explosive remnants of war, he stressed.

The agency warned of the severe humanitarian crisis in the area, where 2.2 million residents “are in urgent need of food assistance every day, although daily aid averaged just eight percent in the last week of December.”

OCHA found that 85 percent of Gaza's total population, or 1.9 million, are currently internally displaced, including many who have had to flee multiple times.

The southern governorate of Rafah is now the main refuge for displaced people, with more than a million people crammed into an extremely crowded space, he warned.

The UN agency recalled that there had been a power outage in Gaza since October 11 after Israeli authorities cut off power and fuel reserves were exhausted.