{"id":11228,"date":"2025-01-19T13:32:06","date_gmt":"2025-01-19T13:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/?p=11228"},"modified":"2025-01-19T14:18:58","modified_gmt":"2025-01-19T14:18:58","slug":"rafah-declared-a-disaster-zone-after-unprecedented-devastation-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/2025\/01\/19\/rafah-declared-a-disaster-zone-after-unprecedented-devastation-in-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Rafah Declared a Disaster Zone After Unprecedented Devastation in Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Watan<\/strong>-Rafah Mayor Ahmed Al-Sufi declared the city of Rafah in southern Gaza a disaster zone after 470 days of genocide and destruction inflicted by Israeli aggression.<\/p>\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col flex-grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 whitespace-normal break-words text-start [.text-message+&amp;]:mt-5\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"926626bd-abe5-40d9-a56d-1591478cb161\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-4o\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden first:pt-[3px]\">\n<div class=\"markdown prose w-full break-words dark:prose-invert light\">\n<p>In a press conference held in Rafah, Al-Sufi stated that the city has been reduced to rubble and debris due to systematic and brutal aggression, which forcibly displaced its residents, destroyed homes, and left neither stone nor human untouched.<\/p>\n<p>He emphasized that what Rafah witnessed was not just a military operation but a chapter of genocide and ethnic cleansing aimed at erasing all signs of life. Entire neighborhoods were obliterated, infrastructure was destroyed, streets were razed, and the city has become uninhabitable.<\/p>\n<p>Al-Sufi outlined the preliminary estimates of the catastrophe\u2019s aftermath as follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>30 out of 36 municipal buildings<\/strong> in Rafah, including the main municipality building, were completely destroyed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>60% of the city\u2019s homes<\/strong>, equivalent to 16,000 buildings containing 35,000 housing units, were leveled.<\/li>\n<li><strong>15 out of 24 water wells<\/strong> were destroyed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>70% of the sewage system<\/strong> was damaged, turning the city into an environment prone to disease outbreaks.<\/li>\n<li><strong>291 kilometers of streets and roads<\/strong> were completely destroyed and leveled.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Four schools<\/strong> were entirely destroyed, with significant damage to other educational institutions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Nine medical centers<\/strong>, including <strong>four hospitals<\/strong> (Abu Yousef Al-Najjar Hospital, the Maternity Hospital, the Indonesian Hospital, and the Kuwaiti Hospital), went out of service.<\/li>\n<li><strong>81 mosques<\/strong> were completely destroyed, and <strong>47 mosques<\/strong> suffered extensive damage.<\/li>\n<li>Thousands of acres of farmland were razed, and trees and greenhouses were entirely wiped out.<\/li>\n<li>A large section of the city along the border with Egypt, stretching <strong>9 kilometers in length and 500 to 900 meters in width<\/strong>, was destroyed, erasing 90% of residential areas in Al-Salam and Brazil neighborhoods and the Rafah camp.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Al-Sufi concluded by appealing to the Arab and Islamic nations and the free world to extend a helping hand to the people of Gaza for relief efforts and to rebuild the city. He described this announcement as a cry for help to the free world and all international organizations to assist Rafah and the rest of Gaza in recovering from the destruction caused by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/2025\/01\/13\/economic-and-human-costs-of-israels-war-on-gaza-a-looming-crisis\/\">Israeli<\/a> aggression.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9832\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9832\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9832 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/The-Israeli-war-in-gaza-Strip-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Gaza War\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/The-Israeli-war-in-gaza-Strip-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/The-Israeli-war-in-gaza-Strip-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/The-Israeli-war-in-gaza-Strip-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/The-Israeli-war-in-gaza-Strip-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/The-Israeli-war-in-gaza-Strip-1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/The-Israeli-war-in-gaza-Strip-1-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/The-Israeli-war-in-gaza-Strip-1-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/The-Israeli-war-in-gaza-Strip-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9832\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gaza&#8217;s Losses<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3><strong>Gaza&#8217;s Losses<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Since the Israeli assault on Gaza 15 months ago, Israeli bombardment of the besieged enclave has caused &#8220;unprecedented destruction in modern history,&#8221; according to a United Nations report.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Buildings<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The latest damage assessment by the United Nations Satellite Center (UNOSAT) indicates that as of December 1, nearly <strong>69% of the buildings<\/strong> in Gaza\u2014totaling <strong>170,812 structures<\/strong>\u2014were either damaged or destroyed.<\/p>\n<p>American researchers Corey Sher and Jarmon Van Den Hoek, using satellite analyses with a different methodology, estimated <strong>172,015 buildings<\/strong> to have been partially or completely damaged as of January 11. This represents <strong>59.8% of the buildings<\/strong> in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n<p>The military campaign launched by Israel in response to a Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of at least <strong>46,788 people<\/strong> in Gaza, most of whom were civilians, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, a figure deemed credible by the United Nations.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Hospitals<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>During the war, the Israeli military systematically targeted hospitals in the enclave. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Kamal Adwan Hospital\u2014one of the few medical facilities operational in northern Gaza\u2014became &#8220;empty&#8221; and &#8220;out of service&#8221; after a major Israeli military operation in late December.<\/p>\n<p>The WHO also reported that only <strong>18 out of 36 hospitals (50%)<\/strong> in Gaza were partially operational, with a total capacity of <strong>1,800 beds<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>On December 31, the United Nations warned that the health system in Gaza was &#8220;on the verge of complete collapse.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8673\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8673\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8673 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Novels-of-horrors-from-the-Al-Shifa-hospital-1024x775.jpg\" alt=\"the Al-Shifa Hospital\" width=\"1024\" height=\"775\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Novels-of-horrors-from-the-Al-Shifa-hospital-1024x775.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Novels-of-horrors-from-the-Al-Shifa-hospital-300x227.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Novels-of-horrors-from-the-Al-Shifa-hospital-768x581.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Novels-of-horrors-from-the-Al-Shifa-hospital-150x114.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Novels-of-horrors-from-the-Al-Shifa-hospital-450x341.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Novels-of-horrors-from-the-Al-Shifa-hospital.jpg 1169w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8673\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Novels of horrors from the Al-Shifa Hospital<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4><strong>Mosques<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Based on data from UNOSAT and the OpenStreetMap database, <strong>83% of mosques<\/strong> in Gaza were partially or completely damaged.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Schools<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Schools, many of which have been used as shelters for displaced persons since the start of the war, suffered severe damage. UNICEF reported that by December 1, at least <strong>496 schools<\/strong>\u2014approximately <strong>88%<\/strong> of the 564 registered facilities\u2014had been damaged, with <strong>396 schools<\/strong> directly hit by airstrikes.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Agricultural Lands<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Satellite imagery from UNOSAT dated September 26, 2024, revealed that <strong>68% of agricultural lands<\/strong> in Gaza\u2014equivalent to <strong>103 square kilometers<\/strong>\u2014were damaged by the war.<\/p>\n<p>In northern Gaza, <strong>79% of agricultural land<\/strong> was affected, and in Rafah, the figure was <strong>57%<\/strong>. Damage to agricultural assets, such as irrigation systems, livestock farms, orchards, machinery, and storage facilities, ranged from <strong>80% to 96%<\/strong> by early 2024, according to a report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Road Networks<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Approximately <strong>68% of Gaza\u2019s roads<\/strong> were damaged, with a total of <strong>1,190 kilometers<\/strong> destroyed, according to a preliminary analysis conducted by UNOSAT on August 18.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Reconstruction Costs<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The United Nations estimated the total cost of rebuilding the destruction caused by the war at <strong>$40 billion USD<\/strong>. The total debris in Gaza was calculated to be around <strong>37 million tons<\/strong>, with more than <strong>70% of all housing<\/strong> damaged or destroyed.<\/p>\n<p>The United Nations described the destruction as massive and horrifying, with the education and healthcare sectors almost entirely destroyed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Watan-Rafah Mayor Ahmed Al-Sufi declared the city of Rafah in southern Gaza a disaster zone after 470 days of genocide and destruction inflicted by Israeli aggression. In a press conference held in Rafah, Al-Sufi stated that the city has been reduced to rubble and debris due to systematic and brutal aggression, which forcibly displaced its &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10084,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[1118,3520,1460],"class_list":["post-11228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reports","tag-gaza-war","tag-gazas-buildings","tag-rafah"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rafah Declared a Disaster Zone After Unprecedented Devastation in Gaza - Watan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rafah.. has been declared a disaster zone after 470 days of relentless destruction. 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