Nearly 2 in 3 homes in Gaza have been destroyed, says UNICEF

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - About two in three homes in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged, a UNICEF spokesperson lamented on Thursday, expressing his frustration over the devastation of families' homes.

James Elder, on X, highlighted the "decades" of hard work and investment that have been turned into a "nightmare," with families struggling to save their homes only to see them destroyed again.

"You see rubble. And I see it as far as my eye can see," he said in a video message. "Decades and decades, families saved and saved their family homes. And they look to me, and they say, 'James, I'm too old. I don't have time to do it again'."

"How do these people start again?" he asked.

Elder urged "no more destruction and no more families, homes, dreams smashed."

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas in which some1,200 people were killed.

Nearly 34,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 76,600 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.