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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">70% of Gaza destroyed as
'Israel' shifts to bulldozer 'land clearing'</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Al Mayadeen
English</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time">July 19, 2025</div>
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<p>New satellite data reveal that nearly 70% of Gaza\u2019s
buildings have been levelled or severely damaged,
evidence of a systematic demolition campaign.</p>
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<a
href="https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2025/7/19/38707c92-9212-47d0-ac6f-2662caf80573.png?width=1000"
tabindex="0" moz-do-not-send="true"><img
src="https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2025/7/19/38707c92-9212-47d0-ac6f-2662caf80573.png?width=1000&preset=w700"
alt="New data reveals 70% of Gaza destroyed"
class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img"
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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 (<em>AP</em>)
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<p>New satellite analysis by the Hebrew University\u2019s
Geographic Information System (GIS) Centre shows that
nearly 70% of Gaza\u2019s buildings have been <a
href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/global-calls-for-ceasefire-fall-flat-amid-gaza-devastation"
moz-do-not-send="true">destroyed or severely damaged</a>,
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%.</p>
<p>\u201cThe residents of Gaza have nowhere to return to. The
world they knew and their daily lives are simply
gone,\u201d said Adi Ben-Nun, the researcher behind the
mapping, which illustrates widespread, systematic
destruction of homes, public institutions, schools,
hospitals, and farmland.</p>
<p>While "Israel\u2019s" military campaign initially relied <a
href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/over-100-palestinians-killed-as-israeli-strikes-pound-gaza"
moz-do-not-send="true">heavily on airstrikes</a>,
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.</p>
<p>Among them is reservist Rabbi Avraham Zarbiv, a <a
href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/gaza-flattened-for-pay--not--need---iof-reward-operators-for"
moz-do-not-send="true">D9 bulldozer operator</a>,
who has openly celebrated the devastation in an
interview for Israeli newspaper <em>Haaretz.</em>
\u201cRafah is being cleared today; there\u2019s no Rafah," he
said. "Northern Gaza is almost entirely levelled. Khan
Yunis is next \u2013 it\u2019ll be wiped out as well.\u201d</p>
<p>He added that \u201cGod wants our job to be simply
clearing the land.\u201d</p>
<p><strong>Read more: <a
href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/gaza-flattened-for-pay--not--need---iof-reward-operators-for"
moz-do-not-send="true">Gaza flattened for pay, not
need: IOF reward operators for each ruin</a></strong></p>
<p>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\u2019s April
estimate of just over 50%.</p>
<h2>Rubble in Gaza 14 times greater than all armed
conflicts </h2>
<p>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.</p>
<p>This destruction is no longer covert as <a
href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/calls-grow-to-remove-netanyahu-from-high-school-hall-of-fame"
moz-do-not-send="true">Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu</a> recently told the Knesset,
\u201cWe 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.\u201d</p>
<p>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. <a
href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/un-expert---acts-of-genocide-against-palestinians-in-gaza-me"
moz-do-not-send="true">Article II(c) of the Genocide</a>
Convention includes \u201cdeliberately inflicting on the
group conditions of life calculated to bring about its
physical destruction in whole or in part.\u201d</p>
<p>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.</p>
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