Urbicide: ‘Even if Israel stops bombing Gaza tomorrow, it will be impossible to live there'

Assiya HAMZA

28 June 2024 at 3:24 am·2-min read

Eight months of war have destroyed more than 55% of the structures in Gaza, according to the latest report from the UN Satellite Centre. The enclave's main towns have been devastated by Israeli bombardment, rendering them almost uninhabitable. The destruction has been called an example of “urbicide” – the deliberate, utter destruction of an urban area.

"All the houses have been turned into ruins. We're lost, we don't know exactly where our homes are in the midst of this massive destruction," said Mohammad al-Najjar, 33, in an interview with AFP on June 1 in the Jabaliya camp in the north of the Gaza Strip.

Eight months of war and intense bombardment by the Israeli military has turned most of Gaza into a heap of ruins, as confirmed by photos and satellite images.

"A total of 137,297 structures, or around 55% of structures in Gaza, are affected," noted the United Nations Satellite Centre (Unosat) in a report published on May 31.

Unosat, whose mission is to provide satellite image analysis during humanitarian emergencies and armed conflict, publishes monthly images of the Gaza Strip.

The satellite images from May 3 this year were compared with those taken on October 7, 2023, the day Hamas staged a deadly attack on southern Israel and the eve of the start of the war.

"According to our analysis, we identified 36,591 destroyed structures, 16,513 severely damaged, 47,368 moderately damaged, and 36,825 possibly damaged structures. A total of 137,297 structures, or about 55% of the total in Gaza, are affected,” Unosat noted.

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