Over 280,000 homes destroyed in Gaza as displaced families face winter in tents: UN agency

By Anadolu staff

ISTANBUL (AA) – More than 282,000 homes in Gaza were destroyed or damaged during Israel’s two-year war, leaving large numbers of Palestinians without shelter, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said Thursday.

The figures come from the Shelter Cluster, a humanitarian platform jointly managed by the UNRWA and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the agency said in a statement on US social media company X.

UNRWA said tens of thousands of Palestinian families are living in tents as winter approaches, adding that these families are crowded into “tight spaces” and struggle with “a lack of privacy and limited access to essential services.”

A ceasefire between Hamas and Israel has been in place since Oct. 10, but Israel continues to violate it daily, causing hundreds of Palestinian casualties and restricting the entry of food and medical supplies.

Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed more than 69,000 people, mostly women and children, injured over 170,700 others, and left the enclave uninhabitable.