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UN: Satellite Images Show 35% of Gaza's Buildings Destroyed

Palestinians clear a road from building rubble with a bulldozer following overnight Israeli bombardment which hit the al-Habash family home at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on March 20, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians clear a road from building rubble with a bulldozer following overnight Israeli bombardment which hit the al-Habash family home at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on March 20, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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UN: Satellite Images Show 35% of Gaza's Buildings Destroyed

Palestinians clear a road from building rubble with a bulldozer following overnight Israeli bombardment which hit the al-Habash family home at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on March 20, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians clear a road from building rubble with a bulldozer following overnight Israeli bombardment which hit the al-Habash family home at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on March 20, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Satellite images analyzed by the United Nations Satellite Center show that 35% of the Gaza Strip's buildings have been destroyed or damaged in the Israel offensive in the Palestinian enclave.
In its assessment, the United Nations Satellite Center, UNOSAT, used high-resolution satellite images collected on Feb. 29 and compared them with images taken before and after the start of the latest conflict.
It found that 35% of all buildings in the Gaza Strip - 88,868 structures - had been damaged or destroyed.
Among these, it identified 31,198 structures as destroyed, 16,908 as severely damaged, and 40,762 as moderately damaged, Reuters reported.
This represents an increase of nearly 20,000 damaged structures compared to the previous assessment it did based on images taken in January that showed 30% of all buildings had been damaged or destroyed, UNOSAT said.
"The governorates of Khan Younis and Gaza have experienced the most significant rise in damage, with Khan Yunis seeing 12,279 additional damaged structures and Gaza experiencing 2,010," UNOSAT said.
"Khan Younis City has been hit particularly hard, with 6,663 newly destroyed structures."

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EU’s Kallas Says She Hopes for Political Agreement on Easing Syria Sanctions

In this photograph taken on January 12, 2025, a vendor waits for customers at her mobile shop in the Damascus Tower market, which specializes in the smart phone business, in the Syrian capital. (AFP)
In this photograph taken on January 12, 2025, a vendor waits for customers at her mobile shop in the Damascus Tower market, which specializes in the smart phone business, in the Syrian capital. (AFP)
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EU’s Kallas Says She Hopes for Political Agreement on Easing Syria Sanctions

In this photograph taken on January 12, 2025, a vendor waits for customers at her mobile shop in the Damascus Tower market, which specializes in the smart phone business, in the Syrian capital. (AFP)
In this photograph taken on January 12, 2025, a vendor waits for customers at her mobile shop in the Damascus Tower market, which specializes in the smart phone business, in the Syrian capital. (AFP)

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday she hopes a political agreement on easing Syria sanctions can be reached at a gathering of European ministers next week.

EU foreign ministers will discuss the situation in Syria during a meeting in Brussels on Jan. 27.

European officials began rethinking their approach towards Syria after Bashar al-Assad was ousted as president by opposition forces led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, which the United Nations designates as a terrorist group.

Some European capitals want to move quickly to suspend economic sanctions in a signal of support for the transition in Damascus. Others have sought to ensure that even if some sanctions are eased, Brussels retains leverage in its relationship with the new Syrian authorities.

“We are ready to do step-for-step approach and also to discuss what is the fallback position,” Kallas told Reuters in an interview.

“If we see that the developments are going in the wrong direction, then we are also willing to put them back,” she added.

Six EU member states called this month for the bloc to temporarily suspend sanctions on Syria in areas such as transport, energy and banking.

Current EU sanctions include a ban on Syrian oil imports and a freeze on any Syrian central bank assets in Europe.