Satellite images show 35% of Gaza's building destroyed, UN says

Satellite images analyzed by the United Nations Satellite Centre show that 35% of the Gaza Strip's buildings have been destroyed or damaged since the start of Israel's offensive there following Hamas's October 7 attack, Reuters reports.

In its assessment, the United Nations Satellite Centre, UNOSAT, used high-resolution satellite images collected on February 29 and compared them with images taken before and after the war broke out.

It found that 35% of all buildings in the Gaza Strip - 88,868 structures - had been damaged or destroyed.

Among these, it identified 31,198 structures as destroyed, 16,908 as severely damaged, and 40,762 as moderately damaged.

UNOSAT said this represents an increase of nearly 20,000 damaged structures compared to its previous assessment, which was based on images taken in January and showed that 30% of all buildings had been damaged or destroyed.

"The governorates of Khan Yunis and Gaza have experienced the most significant rise in damage, with Khan Yunis seeing 12,279 additional damaged structures and Gaza experiencing 2,010," UNOSAT said.

"Khan Younis City has been hit particularly hard, with 6,663 newly destroyed structures."