AND THE WORLD STOOD STILL!!!!

AND THE WORLD STOOD STILL!!!!

For nearly 10 months now, Palestinians and Israelis have lived through untold suffering, grief, sorrow, and loss. More than two million people in Gaza remain trapped in an endless nightmare of death and destruction on a staggering scale. Their lives are dominated by fear, thirst, hunger, disease, dehumanization, lack of basic sanitation, and repeated displacement. It is a relentless and often hourly struggle, day in and day out. Famine remains a risk, including in southern Gaza. Communicable diseases are on the rise.

1. Over 36,000 Palestinians had been killed including 15,328 children and 10,171 women and injured 83,309 others
2. 1.9 million people or more than 80 percent of Gaza’s population have been internally displaced. Most are sheltering in UN installations such as schools and hospitals, nevertheless, more than 400 have been killed and at least 1,400 injured in those places.
3. 7,000 remain missing, most believed to be buried under the rubble.
4. At least 370,000 housing units in Gaza have been damaged, including 79,000 destroyed completely. That’s 65% of all homes in Gaza leaving more than one million people without home.
5. 85% of schools have been damaged and that over 70% of schools will need major construction, if not rebuilding. As many as 625,000 students have no access to education.
6. Many hospitals in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged, and those that are operating lack key staff and supplies.
7. GDP of Gaza has decreased 51% in 2024.
8. The "productive basis of the economy has been destroyed, with sectors experiencing losses of more than 90%.
9. 201,000 jobs have been lost since the war began and the economy contracted 81% in the last quarter of 2023.
10. Hyper-unemployment" of 45%, reaching nearly 63% among younger workers.
11. 1.8 million Palestinians have fallen into poverty.
12. 350,000 Gazans suffer chronic health conditions.  
13. Access to safe drinking water in Gaza had significantly diminished due to Israeli attacks on vital infrastructure; 97% of the accessible water fails to meet WHO standards.
14. Women survivors are facing a slow death. Over a million Palestinian women and girls in Gaza are suffering from severe hunger and even famine. They lack access to food, safe water, and sanitation, which is critical to those who are breastfeeding mothers and those who are pregnant. Those fortunate enough to find food often dropped or smuggled in, are also sleep-displaced, living amidst the rubble of their homes and the mass graves of their male family members. They live under a sky filled with bombs, and their children are haunted by the unforgettable mushroom clouds that have claimed their loved ones.  
15. Almost $50 billion in investments in Gaza are estimated to have been wiped out in the conflict
16. Preliminary estimate of the cost of an early recovery program for three years, which would bring hundreds of thousands of Palestinians back to temporary shelters in their original locations with community support, is between $2 billion and $3 billion.
17. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says more than 350 Israeli military attacks have targeted its buildings, with 161 installations damaged. The highest number of UN staff in history – 176 – have been killed in Gaza since October 7.

Note 

According to the UN Satellite Centre, a total of 137, 297 structures or around 55% of the structures in Gaza are affected : 36,591 destroyed structures, 16,513 severely damaged, 47,368 moderately damaged, and 36,825 possibly damaged structures. Buildings used for housing were by far the worst hit, with 135,142 housing units damaged. But the bombs also struck schools, hospitals, cultural and religious sites, water and electricity infrastructure, roads and bridges. Towns have been devastated by Israeli bombardment, rendering them almost uninhabitable. The war has left major Gazan heritage sites in ruins, including the Great Omari Mosque (Gaza's largest and oldest), Palestine Square, Anthedon Harbour, the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius, and the Pasha’s Palace Museum, whose structure was originally built in the 13th century. According to a recent UNESCO report,  50 heritage sites have been damaged or destroyed since October 7. The terrible thing for Israeli society is that not only will it not have peace – it has just guaranteed Hamas recruitment for the next 20 years – but it will also not be able to justify 70,000 or more deaths in Gaza. In addition to the 37,000 victims declared by Hamas, we must add the 12,000 people missing, people who are still buried under the rubble. At present, the civil authorities are unable to count the dead. And that's not to mention the number of wounded."