70% of Gaza’s housing was completely or partially destroyed and is no longer habitable (Al Jazeera)
Gaza -
What the Israeli war machine left behind on the property of the “Abu Akar” family, including commercial companies, warehouses, and residential homes, affects all aspects of life, as massive destruction surrounds the small coastal Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to a fierce war for 6 months.
Estimates of material losses vary from one party to another, as the war is ongoing and escalating, the occupation separates the north of the Gaza Strip from its south, and the dangers of movement on the ground impede access to the target locations.
According to the latest joint report by the World Bank and the United Nations assessing the damage to vital infrastructure between October and the end of last January, the cost of this damage is estimated at approximately $18.5 billion.
The occupation completely and partially destroyed 80% of Gaza’s facilities, including hospitals and schools (French)
Huge losses
According to the same report, these losses are equivalent to 97% of the gross domestic product of the West Bank and Gaza Strip together in 2022, and the destroyed infrastructure includes residential homes, water, health facilities, energy, roads and transportation, communications and technology, municipal services, industry and agriculture, and other life sectors. .
The report does not cover the destruction caused by air strikes, artillery shelling, and Israeli ground incursions during last February and March, and official and civil Palestinian bodies say that the losses resulting from the war far exceed these estimates.
Engineer Hani Abu Akar told Al Jazeera Net that his family's losses are estimated at more than 15 million dollars, as a result of the destruction that befell its three companies, commercial warehouses, and residential homes in the cities of Gaza, Khan Yunis, and the Central Governorate of the Strip.
Abu Akar's companies are among the largest Palestinian commercial companies, especially in the field of importing foodstuffs, and their history goes back about 5 decades. Hani confirms that the occupation deliberately destroys national companies and the infrastructure of various aspects of life in Gaza by direct and indirect targeting.
Abu Akar's companies also incurred other losses resulting from tenders and work contracts with international organizations operating in Gaza, and the loss of about 10,000 food parcels as a result of Israeli targeting and theft, according to Hani.
He added that the occupation targeted the family and employees of companies while working to prepare food parcels for international and local organizations, and bombed stores and warehouses with artillery. He said, "We were warned to quickly leave, and then destroyed them completely."
A war of extermination
The extent of the destruction of the Abu Akar family’s property indicates the policy of systematic destruction practiced by the occupation against Gaza.
The head of the International Commission for the Defense of the Rights of the Palestinian People, Salah Abdel Ati, told Al Jazeera Net that the facts on the ground confirm that all civilian facilities are within the scope of Israeli targeting, and that the pure Israeli intention is to eliminate the capabilities of the Strip and destroy its infrastructure, the foundations of its existence and its public property.
Based on the Commission’s preliminary monitoring, Abdel Ati estimates that the occupation caused the destruction of 70% of citizens’ homes and property and civilian facilities, especially in the Gaza and northern governorates, which confirms that the Israeli attacks are of a retaliatory and indiscriminate nature.
The occupation also completely and partially destroyed 80% of the sector’s facilities, including hospitals, schools, government headquarters, municipalities, mosques, churches, universities, private institutions, shops, economic facilities, historical places, vital service facilities, streets, farms, and electricity and water networks. Wastewater stations and communications networks.
Abdel Ati confirms that this falls within the context of “an open Israeli plan whose goal is to make Gaza a destroyed area unfit for life, with collective revenge on the Gazans, and push them to despair and emigrate, after the war caused them to be destroyed, killing and wounding more than 100,000, and displacing 85% of them and forcing them to move.” "Repeatedly over the past months, setting up tents and miserable shelter centers."
As of the beginning of this month, the Director General of the Government Media Office, Ismail Al-Thawabta, speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, estimates the total direct initial economic losses resulting from the war at about $30 billion, while Abdel-Ati and Hani suggest that it exceeds that and cannot be accurately estimated unless the war stops, in addition to Indirect losses resulting from stopping the wheel of life.
The occupation destroyed hundreds of residential towers, electricity and communications networks, and infrastructure (Al Jazeera)
Tragic reality
Al Jazeera Net classifies the vital sectors that were destroyed as follows, and is based on preliminary monitoring by the Government Media Office and the International Committee for Defending the Rights of the Palestinian People:
Residential homes: More than 70,000 residential units were completely destroyed, and about 600,000 others were severely and moderately damaged, equivalent to 70% of the residential units in the Gaza Strip.
Health sector: Israeli targeting of 155 health institutions, which led to 32 hospitals and 53 health centers being out of service, and the destruction of more than 126 ambulances.
Government sector: 168 government headquarters were destroyed, including ministries, civil institutions, security and police headquarters, and courts.
The Israeli aggression destroyed hundreds of mosques and 3 churches in the Gaza Strip (Al Jazeera)
Places of worship: 223 mosques were completely destroyed and 289 were partially destroyed, in addition to the destruction of 3 churches.
Cultural and historical places: Nearly 200 archaeological sites and historical buildings were destroyed, including cultural centers, mosques, historic churches, publishing houses, printing presses, studios, media and artistic production companies, and the headquarters of media institutions. More than 146 homes of historical value in the Old City of Gaza City were damaged to varying degrees.
Hotel and entertainment sector: widespread destruction of parks, hotels, amusement parks, amusement parks, and electronic games.
Economic facilities and agricultural lands: Thousands of industrial and commercial facilities were destroyed, including factories, banks, commercial stores, bakeries, farms, warehouses, service offices, companies, and fishing boats.
Preliminary data indicate that half of the agricultural area in the Strip was destroyed, especially in Gaza City and its north, which led to nearly half a million workers stopping their jobs in Gaza, and catastrophic financial losses, in addition to raising the poverty rate to 90%.
Schools and universities: 100 schools were completely destroyed, and severe damage was caused to more than 300 others, in addition to the complete and severe destruction of all universities.
More than 10,000 cars were destroyed in Gaza (Al Jazeera)
Transportation: Widespread destruction of car markets and showrooms. Initial estimates indicate that more than 10,000 cars were completely and partially destroyed, and major streets and intersections were severely vandalized and their features completely changed.
Electricity, communications, and Internet networks: They were extensively destroyed, leading to the deterioration of communications and Internet services. Electricity was completely cut off from the Gaza Strip, and the occupation deliberately deepened it by destroying solar cells.
According to the head of the International Commission for Defending the Rights of the Palestinian People, Salah Abdel Ati, the scale of the disaster will exceed current initial estimates, and in addition to the direct economic losses, the indirect losses resulting from the cessation of 90% of workers from work should not be overlooked, creating a tragic reality in which the majority of Gazans have become dependent. On relief aid.
Source: Al Jazeera