[News] 70% of Gaza destroyed as 'Israel' shifts to bulldozer 'land clearing'

[Anti-Imperialist News]

english.almayadeen.net 
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/70--of-gaza-destroyed-as--israel--shifts-to-bulldozer--land> 



  70% of Gaza destroyed as 'Israel' shifts to bulldozer 'land clearing'

Al Mayadeen English
July 19, 2025
------------------------------------------------------------------------

New satellite data reveal that nearly 70% of Gaza’s buildings have been 
levelled or severely damaged, evidence of a systematic demolition campaign.

  * New data reveals 70% of Gaza destroyed
    <https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2025/7/19/38707c92-9212-47d0-ac6f-2662caf80573.png?width=1000>
    Palestinians walk through the destruction in the wake of an Israeli
    air and ground offensive in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on April 8,
    2024 (/AP/)

New satellite analysis by the Hebrew University’s Geographic Information 
System (GIS) Centre shows that nearly 70% of Gaza’s buildings have been 
destroyed or severely damaged 
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/global-calls-for-ceasefire-fall-flat-amid-gaza-devastation>, 
figures that now exceed earlier UN estimates. In Rafah, 89% of buildings 
have been damaged or destroyed, while northern Gaza stands at 84% and 
Gaza City at 78%.

“The residents of Gaza have nowhere to return to. The world they knew 
and their daily lives are simply gone,” said Adi Ben-Nun, the researcher 
behind the mapping, which illustrates widespread, systematic destruction 
of homes, public institutions, schools, hospitals, and farmland.

While "Israel’s" military campaign initially relied heavily on 
airstrikes 
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/over-100-palestinians-killed-as-israeli-strikes-pound-gaza>, 
the latest phase has shifted to large-scale mechanical demolition, often 
conducted by private contractors under army protection. These 
contractors reportedly earn up to 5,000 shekels (about $1,500) per 
building and have urged military commanders to broaden demolition efforts.

Among them is reservist Rabbi Avraham Zarbiv, a D9 bulldozer operator 
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/gaza-flattened-for-pay--not--need---iof-reward-operators-for>, 
who has openly celebrated the devastation in an interview for Israeli 
newspaper /Haaretz./ “Rafah is being cleared today; there’s no Rafah," 
he said. "Northern Gaza is almost entirely levelled. Khan Yunis is next 
– it’ll be wiped out as well.”

He added that “God wants our job to be simply clearing the land.”

*Read more: Gaza flattened for pay, not need: IOF reward operators for 
each ruin 
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/gaza-flattened-for-pay--not--need---iof-reward-operators-for>*

A study by the Hebrew University estimates that around 160,000 buildings 
in Gaza, nearly 70% of its infrastructure, have been rendered 
uninhabitable or completely destroyed, far surpassing the UN’s April 
estimate of just over 50%.


    Rubble in Gaza 14 times greater than all armed conflicts

According to the UN Satellite Centre, the weight of debris produced by 
this destruction has reached 50 million tonnes, an average of 137 
kilograms per square metre across the entire Strip. The UN Environment 
Programme previously warned that the scale of rubble is 14 times greater 
than that produced by all armed conflicts worldwide since 2008. Clearing 
the debris, it projected, would take over two decades and cost $1.2 billion.

This destruction is no longer covert as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 
Netanyahu 
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/calls-grow-to-remove-netanyahu-from-high-school-hall-of-fame> 
recently told the Knesset, “We are destroying more and more homes. They 
have nowhere to return to. The only expected outcome will be the desire 
of Gazans to emigrate out of the Strip.”

His remarks have drawn sharp scrutiny from legal experts and human 
rights observers, who argue that the policies in Gaza increasingly align 
with the legal definition of genocide. Article II(c) of the Genocide 
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/un-expert---acts-of-genocide-against-palestinians-in-gaza-me> 
Convention includes “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of 
life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in 
part.”

The mass leveling of cities, forced displacement, and systemic denial of 
shelter, education, and essential services are widely being cited as 
evidence that the ongoing campaign meets this threshold.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20250719/fe8ea947/attachment.htm>