Over 90% of Gaza homes destroyed or damaged amid Israeli war: UN
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The UN migration agency urges immediate humanitarian access as Palestinian families shelter in ruins amid a deepening humanitarian crisis.
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Palestinians inspect the destruction of a house hit by an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP)
More than 90% of homes in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported, as the ongoing Israeli aggression aggravates the humanitarian crisis in the enclave. The IOM cited data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in its report on Wednesday.
The IOM highlighted the scale of destruction, warning that civilians in Gaza are increasingly vulnerable with limited access to safe shelter.
"With nowhere safe to go, families shelter in unsafe ruins," the agency stated on the social media platform X.
Shelters are overcrowded. Hygiene and sanitation conditions are dire while diseases spread.
— IOM - UN Migration 🇺🇳 (@UNmigration) April 17, 2025
IOM stands ready to support with over 4 million shelter & relief items — but aid has been blocked for more than 40 days. Immediate access is critical. https://t.co/p5WVSVeObL pic.twitter.com/Cw2rgOOnlo
The situation in Gaza has become critical, with vast areas reduced to rubble. The destruction has left the majority of the population displaced, relying on makeshift shelters or the remains of their homes.
IOM calls for urgent humanitarian access to Gaza
The UN migration agency emphasized the urgent need for humanitarian access to the besieged strip, noting that essential shelter aid is ready for deployment.
"IOM has shelter aid ready—entry points must open NOW," the organization urged.
Blocked entry points have prevented the delivery of critical supplies, including tents, construction materials, and other emergency relief needed to support displaced families.
As the genocide continues, the humanitarian toll on Gaza’s population grows. The IOM’s warning comes amid calls from international organizations for immediate action to allow the flow of aid into the region.
The ongoing destruction has intensified concerns about the safety and well-being of Palestinians, with the majority now lacking adequate housing, clean water, and medical services.
Two million Palestinians facing collective punishment: UNRWA
Two million Palestinians, a majority of whom are women and children, are undergoing collective punishment, the commissioner-general of UNRWA has pointed out.
“Hunger is spreading and deepening, deliberate and manmade,” Philippe Lazzarini told the media on Tuesday. “Humanitarian aid is being used as a bargaining chip and a weapon of war [by Israel in the Gaza Strip].”
Lazzarini insisted that "Israel’s" “siege must be lifted, supplies must flow in, the hostages must be released, the ceasefire must resume.” He wondered how much longer until hollow words of condemnation will translate into action to lift the siege, resume a ceasefire, and save whatever is left of humanity.
3 Palestinians, including a child, killed in overnight Israeli attacks
Three Palestinians, including a child, were martyred and several others injured as a result of an Israeli airstrike targeting a home in the Khan Younis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, overnight, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported.
Our correspondent also noted that Israeli strikes targeted homes in the Qizan al-Najjar area, south of Khan Younis city.
Meanwhile, Palestinian media platforms reported that the Israeli occupation forces carried out a series of demolitions in the city of Rafah.
Earlier, Gaza authorities reported that the Israeli occupation had killed 39 Palestinians and wounded 105 others between Tuesday and Wednesday. Hospitals in Gaza reported that among the dead was one victim retrieved from under the rubble, with many more civilians still trapped in destroyed homes and streets, unreachable due to ongoing bombardment. The total death toll since October 7, 2023, has now reached 51,305, with 117,096 injured, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
Since March 18, 2025, Gaza has recorded 1,928 martyrs and 5,055 injuries, highlighting the sharp escalation of the ongoing Israeli genocide.
Israeli targeting of civilians, shelters
"Israel" continued to bombard Gaza on Wednesday, with rescuers saying at least 18 people had been killed since dawn, including 11 in a strike on a school-turned-shelter for displaced people.
"The school was housing displaced people. The bombing sparked a massive blaze, and several charred bodies have since been recovered," they said, describing the attack on Yaffa school in the al-Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that Israeli warplanes and invading units continued their attacks on densely populated civilian areas. On Wednesday morning, an airstrike on the Shaaban family home in Jabalia al-Balad, northern Gaza, killed three Palestinians and wounded several others.
In northeastern Gaza City, an Israeli airstrike targeted the Yaffa School, which was sheltering displaced families, killing ten Palestinians, as per our correspondent.
He further stressed that Civil Defense crews struggled to contain a fire ignited by the bombing.
Elsewhere in Gaza City, homes belonging to the al-Sharbasi and al-Jalees families in the al-Tuffah neighborhood were destroyed. Under dangerous conditions, rescue teams retrieved the bodies of four martyrs and pulled an injured woman from the debris, with more victims believed to be buried beneath the rubble, our correspondent reported.
The death toll among Palestinians continues to climb as "Israel's" relentless war on Gaza shows no sign of slowing, undeterred by the international community’s increasingly feeble calls for a ceasefire.
Read more: Germany, France, UK say 'Israel's' Gaza blockade 'must end'
