“Clearing the rubble will take years. “Healing from the psychological trauma of this war will take even longer. This suffering must come to an end.”
More than half of the buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed by Israeli attacks on the besieged enclave since October 7, the United Nations has said.
“The destruction in Gaza is indescribable. More than half of all buildings have been destroyed, according to UNOSAT,” the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on X on Monday.
“Clearing the rubble will take years,” the agency added. “Healing from the psychological trauma of this war will take even longer. This suffering must come to an end. #CeasefireNow.”
The destruction in #Gaza is indescribable. More than half of all buildings have been destroyed, according to @UNOSAT.
Clearing the rubble will take years. Healing from the psychological trauma of this war will take even longer.
This suffering must come to an end. #CeasefireNow pic.twitter.com/cRQoYo8ZZQ
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) June 10, 2024
Call for Investigations
Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s Communications Director, said the agency has recorded that “at least 180 of our buildings have been hit.”
As a result, “more than 400 people who were seeking shelter under the UN flag have been killed.”
Touma called for “investigations into all violations against the United Nations including attacks on our buildings.”
In addition to destroyed buildings, clearing Gaza of unexploded bombs could take up to 14 years, UN demining experts have said.
Pehr Lodhammar, a senior officer from the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), said in April that Israel’s war on Gaza, since October 7, has left an estimated 37 million tons of debris.
‘We Call for Investigations Into All Violations Against UN’ in Gaza – UNRWA
“All I can say is that at least 10 per cent of the ammunition that is being fired potentially fails to function…with 100 trucks we’re talking about 14 years of work with 100 trucks, so that’s 14 years to remove with about 750,000 workdays – person workdays – to remove the debris,” Lodhammar explained.
Staggering Death Toll
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 37,124 Palestinians have been killed, and 84,712 wounded. Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Gaza Genocide – Palestinians Killed, Injured amid Continued Israeli Assault
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
