The Aporia
The Aporia
Since October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, the Israeli military has launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in Gaza, leading to widespread destruction and displacement. Satellite images show that the city of Rafah, once home to 250,000 people, is now largely erased, with other towns and districts also demolished using bulldozers and explosives. This demolition continues even after a ceasefire agreement was reached about a year ago, as Israeli forces maintain control over roughly 60% of the Gaza Strip. The ongoing destruction has left nearly all of Gaza’s 2 million Palestinians homeless, with more than one in ten people from the pre-war population killed or wounded by Israeli fire. Families in Gaza face an unrecognizable landscape and continue to grapple with tragedy; for instance, Najwa Abu Eita lost her 7-year-old daughter during a strike on her home in September 2024, while her three other children were injured.
Israel continues demolishing buildings in Gaza a year after ceasefire
It’s perhaps the most dramatic wound inflicted on the Gaza Strip by Israel’s military campaign over the past three years: the city of Rafah, once home to a quarter million people, has been erased.
Satellite imagery shows the Israeli military has systematically razed the southern city and other towns and districts to the ground and in some places ploughed away the rubble.
Demolition, using bulldozers and explosives, has continued unabated since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal reached a year ago, as the military solidifies its hold over the around 60 per cent of the territory that it still controls.
Gaza’s mangled landscape is just one of the wounds on top of wounds that the enclave’s 2 million Palestinians have endured since Israel launched its campaign to destroy Hamas after the militants’ October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.
While nearly every family mourns dead or cares for wounded, most also had to move multiple times to escape fighting and Israeli evacuation orders.
