support@headlinenews360.com
Israel Hamas Ceasefire: A ceasefire has been agreed between Israel and Hamas. This agreement will start on Sunday (January 19, 2025). The Israeli Cabinet has still not approved it. Earlier, thousands of people lost their lives in the havoc wreaked in Gaza Strip, lakhs of buildings were razed to the ground, Rafah is half destroyed and most of the hospitals are closed.
The sheer scale of bombing and violence during the war changed the layout of densely populated Palestinian cities. News agency…Agence France-Presse (AFP) has described this destruction in one of its reports. According to the report, Gaza is one of the most densely populated places in the world. Before the war, 2.4 million people lived on 365 square kilometers (140 square miles) of land, but now this figure has changed.
More than 1 lakh 70 thousand buildings destroyed
According to satellite images analyzed by the United Nations Satellite Center (UNOSAT), by December 1, 2024, about 69 percent of the buildings in Gaza will have been destroyed or damaged. This number is equal to 170,812 buildings. American researchers Corey Sher and Jamon Van Den Hoek have counted 172,015 damaged or destroyed buildings in Gaza by January 11, 2025.
How many people died?
According to Israeli official figures calculated by news agency AFP, more than 1,200 people were killed in Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, and most of them were civilians. This figure also includes those hostages who were imprisoned in Gaza Strip. According to figures given by Hamas’s Health Ministry, at least 46,788 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military operation in Gaza since October 7, 2023. The United Nations (UN) has also expressed confidence in these figures.
Half of Rafa city destroyed
Before the war, about 600,000 people lived in the northern area of Gaza. Nearly three-quarters of its buildings (74.2 percent) have been damaged or destroyed. In early May, the Israeli army launched a ground attack in Rafah, the southern city of Gaza located on the border with Egypt. By the end of that month, about 48.7 percent of the buildings in Rafah had been affected. Although the city has largely survived compared to Gaza, the charred buildings and structures testify to the devastation of war. The United Nations has estimated that reconstruction in the region could take up to 15 years and cost up to $50 billion.
More than half the hospitals closed
Israel attacked hospitals in Gaza several times during the war. Hamas was also accused of using them for military purposes. If the World Health Organization is to be believed, the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza has been empty since a major Israeli attack in late December and all services are also closed. As of December 31, only 18 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals were partially functioning.
