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UN: More than Half of Cropland in Hungry Gaza is Damaged

A crop duster plane flies over a field, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, near the Israel-Gaza border, Israel, February 19, 2024.REUTERS/Susana Vera/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A crop duster plane flies over a field, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, near the Israel-Gaza border, Israel, February 19, 2024.REUTERS/Susana Vera/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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UN: More than Half of Cropland in Hungry Gaza is Damaged

A crop duster plane flies over a field, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, near the Israel-Gaza border, Israel, February 19, 2024.REUTERS/Susana Vera/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A crop duster plane flies over a field, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, near the Israel-Gaza border, Israel, February 19, 2024.REUTERS/Susana Vera/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

More than half of Gaza's agricultural land, crucial for feeding the war-ravaged territory's hungry population, has been degraded by conflict, satellite images analysed by the United Nations show.

The data reveals a rise in the destruction of orchards, field crops and vegetables in the Palestinian enclave, where hunger is widespread after eight months of Israeli bombardment.

The World Health Organisation warned on Wednesday that many people in Gaza were facing "catastrophic hunger and famine-like conditions".

Using satellite imagery taken between May 2017 and 2024, United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found that 57% of Gaza's permanent crop fields and arable lands essential for food security had shown a significant decline in density and health, Reuters reported.

"In May 2024, crop health and density across the Gaza Strip showed a marked decline compared to the average of the previous seven seasons," UNOSAT said on Thursday.

"This deterioration is attributed to conflict-related activities, including razing, heavy vehicle movement, bombing, and shelling."

The decline, UNOSAT said, marked a 30% increase in damaged agricultural land since it published its last analysis in April.

Israel's ground and air campaign was triggered when Hamas stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7.

The offensive has killed more than 37,000 people in Gaza, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave, and has caused mass destruction and cut off routes for aid.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday there were more than 8,000 children under five years old in Gaza who had been treated for acute malnutrition.

As well as damage to crop fields and orchards, greenhouses across the Gaza Strip had also sustained significant damage, UNOSAT said.

The Gaza Strip has an estimated 151 square kilometres of agricultural land, which makes up about 41% of the coastal enclave's territory, according to data from UNOSAT.

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How Labour Beat the Conservatives in Britain after 14 Years, by the Numbers

05 July 2024, United Kingdom, London: Newly elected UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer gives a speech at his official London residence at No 10 Downing Street for the first time after the Labour party won a landslide victory at the 2024 General Election. (Lucy North/PA Wire/dpa)
05 July 2024, United Kingdom, London: Newly elected UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer gives a speech at his official London residence at No 10 Downing Street for the first time after the Labour party won a landslide victory at the 2024 General Election. (Lucy North/PA Wire/dpa)
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How Labour Beat the Conservatives in Britain after 14 Years, by the Numbers

05 July 2024, United Kingdom, London: Newly elected UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer gives a speech at his official London residence at No 10 Downing Street for the first time after the Labour party won a landslide victory at the 2024 General Election. (Lucy North/PA Wire/dpa)
05 July 2024, United Kingdom, London: Newly elected UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer gives a speech at his official London residence at No 10 Downing Street for the first time after the Labour party won a landslide victory at the 2024 General Election. (Lucy North/PA Wire/dpa)

Great Britain's Labour Party has defeated the Conservatives in a historic parliamentary election for control of the nation's government. With most votes counted, here's a breakdown of the numbers:

412 seats Labour has won 412 seats — a 63% majority — of the 650 seats in the lower house of Parliament. One seat remains undeclared.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives have 121 seats, the smallest number in the party’s two-century history, and down from 365 seats in 2019.

Smaller parties picked up millions of votes, including the centrist Liberal Democrats, who captured 71 seats — up by 60 from the last election. And one of the biggest losers was the Scottish National Party, which held most of Scotland’s 57 seats before the election but looked set to lose all but a handful, mostly to Labour.

Each seat represents a geographic area of the UK. The leader of the party with enough seats to command a majority — either alone or in coalition — becomes prime minister and leads the government.

14 years of power Labour's landslide brought a new party to power for the first time in 14 years.

Parliament had been led by the center-right Conservatives since 2010. They had faced one challenge after another, including Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic and soaring inflation.

Many voters blamed the Conservatives for the litany of problems facing Britain, from unreliable train service to the cost-of-living crisis and the influx of migrants crossing the English Channel.

In 2010, the Labour Party had been ousted after being in power for 13 years, its longest ever stretch.

By the end of its last reign, Labour’s popularity had taken a dive. That was partly because of the deep recession in the UK that was wrought by the global financial crisis in 2008.

60% support for the two major political parties Labour and Conservative candidates were barely able to muster 60% of votes cast in this election, marking a new low.

For the past 100 years, Britain’s two main political parties have garnered the vast majority of votes. In 1951, for example, the Conservatives and Labour netted nearly 97% of the vote combined. In the decades since, the trend has been clear — down.

The two main political parties had candidates running for more than 600 of the 650 seats in Parliament, according to the House of Commons Library. But so did three other parties: Liberal Democrat, Green and Reform.

An average of seven candidates — from almost 100 different political parties — ran for each seat, the library noted. Nine parties fielded over 50 candidates.

The total number of people running for a seat in Parliament was 4,515 this year, the library stated. That's over a thousand more than in 2019.

Despite that relatively low share of the vote, Prime Minister Keir Starmer will be able to govern with a massive majority in the House of Commons.

In Britain, the candidate with the most votes in each constituency wins even if they don’t get a majority. This makes it easier for a party to win a seat on a relatively low share of the vote, especially when votes are spread out among many parties.