Over 1,300 buildings destroyed and about 1,900 people killed in Gaza

Almost a week after Israeli forces launched a heavy bombardment of the heavily populated enclave, rocket strikes on Gaza have killed at least 1,900 people, the majority of them were civilians and included over 600 children, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the bombardment is “just the beginning” as his organization seeks retribution against Hamas for the more than 1,300 people that its forces massacred a week ago.

OCHA stated, “1,324 residential and non-residential buildings, comprising 5,540 housing units, have been destroyed, according to the Gaza Ministry of Public Works.”

“An additional 3,743 housing units have sustained irreparable damage and are no longer livable.”

OCHA said that an additional 55,000 housing units have sustained minor damage.

The UN said on Saturday that over 1,300 structures have been destroyed in the Gaza Strip thus far.

“5,540 housing units” in those structures were demolished, according to the UN’s humanitarian organization OCHA, and roughly 3,750 additional homes suffered damage that rendered them unusable.

By the end of Thursday, the UN, which has been keeping track of the number of individuals displaced from their homes within the Gaza Strip, had registered over 423,000.

Israel subsequently issued a warning, estimating that 1.1 million residents in the enclave’s northern region needed to leave as soon as possible in order to avoid an impending ground invasion.

According to OCHA, “it is estimated that tens of thousands have fled” as of Friday, 1800 GMT.

It stated, “At this time, the exact number of internally displaced people in the Gaza Strip is unknown.”

It stated that “vehicles of those evacuating the north were hit, killing more than 40 people and injuring 150 others,” citing the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Many people decided to give up on their evacuation attempts and head back home as a result of these instances.

“At first, there were no designated safe passageways that allowed individuals to securely follow the directives to relocate southward. Families were among the hundreds of individuals who had to escape on foot.

According to OCHA, the majority of Gaza Strip residents do not currently have access to safe drinking water.

“People are using agricultural wells to obtain brackish water as a last resort, raising serious concerns about the spread of waterborne diseases.”

According to OCHA, airstrikes have damaged six water wells, three water pumping stations, one water reservoir, and one desalination facility that provide water to nearly 1,100,000 people since hostilities began.

According to the report, the complete blackout of electricity has worsened food shortages and driven vital sanitation, water, and health facilities “to the brink of collapse.”