The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced that 92% of Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip have been either completely destroyed or partially damaged as a result of the ongoing Israeli assault that began in October 2023.
In an official statement posted to its account on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, the agency said Palestinian families are facing “unimaginable destruction” amid catastrophic humanitarian conditions, where civilians are being displaced repeatedly in the near-total absence of shelter, food, and basic services.
UNRWA called for an immediate end to the Israeli blockade on Gaza, stating that the continued restrictions are exacerbating the humanitarian crisis and constitute a grave violation of international humanitarian law.
What is unfolding in Gaza cannot be described as a conventional war. It is a campaign of comprehensive destruction targeting infrastructure, civilians, and the very fabric of society. Homes are levelled, hospitals bombed, schools turned into mass graves, and refugee camps struck as if they were military fronts.
Civilians are left with no choice but to flee death only to face it again elsewhere. Families are displaced from one area to another, relentlessly pursued by bombardment and deprivation. This is a deliberate policy that defies the rules of engagement and blatantly disregards international law regarding the protection of civilians during conflict.
Israeli forces have not only relied on airstrikes—they have tightened a suffocating blockade on Gaza, blocking food supplies, restricting humanitarian aid, and holding two million people hostage to hunger, thirst, and disease. A blockade that has lasted for years has now become a central weapon in a broader project of extermination.
While UNRWA and the United Nations continue to call for an immediate lifting of the siege, the international response remains muted—limited to condemnations, without concrete action to halt the total collapse of life in Gaza.