The Gaza Strip has been heavily affected by recent conflicts between Israel and Hamas, resulting in widespread destruction and severe humanitarian crisis. A recent U.N. assessment in early November found that at least 6,000 buildings had been damaged, with about a third of them destroyed by Israeli airstrikes and tanks. Satellite imagery shows that almost every corner of Gaza City has been heavily damaged, including the Port of Gaza and the once prosperous Rimal area. The city’s coastline has been left in ruins, with beaches deserted and high-rise hotels and greenhouses destroyed.
Shati, a densely populated neighborhood, has been hit with multiple airstrikes, causing buildings to crumble and streets to be filled with rubble. Farmland across the width of the strip was bulldozed, major roads have been torn up, and the area has been separated in two by Israeli forces, leading to some of the most concentrated damage. Recent assessments indicate that over half of the buildings in northern Gaza show signs of damage, and frequent aerial bombardments have also hit the south.
As the Israeli forces concentrate their ground offensive on Khan Younis, southern Gaza’s largest city, the possibility of destruction similar to that in northern Gaza looms. The conflict has led to rapidly deteriorating humanitarian conditions, with U.N. warning that shelters are beyond capacity, leaving many people to sleep on the streets or in empty lots. The hundreds of thousands of civilians who sought refuge in the south at the start of the war are again finding themselves in the center of the conflict.
These devastating images, captured through satellite imagery and video, convey only a fraction of the destruction across the Gaza Strip. The recent conflicts have led to severe damage, loss of life, and a dire humanitarian crisis for the people of Gaza.
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