GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — New drone footage shows what remains of Gaza City after two years of war and as a ceasefire holds in its second day.
The footage taken by The Associated Press on Saturday shows few buildings still standing in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood. The rest appear to be gutted. Piles of debris rise well above the tops of vehicles. Roads are shrouded in concrete dust.
The footage also shows few people out and about. They walk or drive among the ruins as tens of thousands of Palestinians make their way to what is left of their homes. Gaza City was the focus of Israel’s military offensive in the weeks before the ceasefire.
Some returning residents told the AP they were shocked by a new level of ruin.
“We did not expect this magnitude of destruction,” said one, Farah Saleh.
“Is that what is left of Gaza? We are returning to no homes and no shelter for our kids, and winter is approaching,” said another, Shreen Aboul Yakhni.
Their clothing and possessions were rare spots of color in the shattered landscape.
If the ceasefire holds, the toll of devastation will be better understood. Already, the United Nations Satellite Center estimated that 83% of all structures in Gaza City had been destroyed or had some damage by late September. It has said around 78% of structures across all of Gaza had been destroyed or sustained damage by July.
The new drone footage helps put the scale of reconstruction into focus. Some 61 million tons of debris will need to be cleared across the territory — the equivalent of 25 Eiffel Towers by volume, according to the United Nations Environment Program.
Gaza’s vegetation, too, is largely dead. UNEP has said that 97% of tree crops, 95% of shrubs and 82% of annual crops are gone.
Rebuilding Gaza will require more than $50 billion, the World Bank has estimated. The territory’s over 2 million Palestinians hope to begin now, one blanket or beam at a time.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage.
In Israel’s ensuing offensive, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the deaths were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the U.N. and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.
The war has also triggered other conflicts in the region, sparked worldwide protests and led to allegations of genocide that Israel denies.
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