Satellite images show 35% of Gaza’s buildings destroyed: UN
US unveils draft UN resolution seeking immediate Gaza ceasefire
Satellite images analysed by the United Nations Satellite Centre show that 35 per cent of the Gaza Strip's buildings have been destroyed or damaged in the Israel offensive in the Palestinian enclave.
In its assessment, the United Nations Satellite Centre, UNOSAT, used high-resolution satellite images collected on February 29 and compared them with images taken before and after the start of the latest conflict.
It found that 35 per cent of all buildings in the Gaza Strip - 88,868 structures — had been damaged or destroyed.
Among these, it identified 31,198 structures as destroyed, 16,908 as severely damaged, and 40,762 as moderately damaged.
This represents an increase of nearly 20,000 damaged structures compared to the previous assessment it did based on images taken in January that showed 30 per cent of all buildings had been damaged or destroyed, UNOSAT said.
"The governorates of Khan Younis and Gaza have experienced the most significant rise in damage, with Khan Younis seeing 12,279 additional damaged structures and Gaza experiencing 2,010," UNOSAT said.
"Khan Younis City has been hit particularly hard, with 6,663 newly destroyed structures."
Meanwhile, the United States has circulated a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for an "immediate ceasefire linked to the release of hostages" in the Gaza Strip, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
The diplomat made his announcement whilst on a tour of the Middle East that will include a stop in Israel.
Key Israel backer the United States has vetoed previous UN Security Council votes on the nearly six-month war, objecting as recently as in February to the use of the term "immediate" in a draft submitted by Algeria.
"Well, in fact, we actually have a resolution that we put forward right now that's before the United Nations Security Council that does call for an immediate ceasefire tied to the release of hostages, and we hope very much that countries will support that," Blinken said in Saudi Arabia.
"I think that would send a strong message, a strong signal," he told Saudi media outlet Al Hadath on Wednesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for the October 7 attacks.
"Of course, we stand with Israel and its right to defend itself... but at the same time, it's imperative that the civilians who are in harm's way and who are suffering so terribly — that we focus on them, that we make them a priority, protecting the civilians, getting them humanitarian assistance," Blinken said.
US officials had been negotiating an alternative text since blocking an Algerian draft resolution calling for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire" in Gaza at the end of February.
That alternative, focusing on support for a six-week truce in exchange for the release of hostages, had little chance winning approval, according to diplomatic sources.
A new version, seen by AFP, stresses "the need for an immediate and durable ceasefire to protect civilians on all sides, enable the delivery of essential humanitarian aid, and alleviate suffering... in conjunction with the release of hostages still held".
No vote has yet been scheduled on this text.
Blinken met Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and then held talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman soon after landing in the kingdom on Wednesday on the first leg of a regional tour that will include Egypt on Thursday and then Israel on Friday.
Blinken's tour, his sixth to the region since the war began, runs parallel with talks in Qatar, where mediators met for a third day on Wednesday in a renewed effort to secure a ceasefire but with little indication of an imminent agreement.
The plan being discussed in Qatar would temporarily halt the fighting as hostages are exchanged for Palestinian prisoners and the delivery of relief supplies to Gaza is stepped up.
The latest fighting has included an Israeli assault on Gaza City's Al Shifa Hospital, a vast complex crowded with patients and people seeking refuge, where Israel says Palestinian militants are holed up.
The Israeli army said "over 300 suspects" had been apprehended in the hospital raid that began Monday, including "dozens of senior terrorists and those with key positions".
Hamas condemned Israeli "crimes" at Al Shifa "for the third day in a row, the executions of dozens of displaced persons, patients and staff".
The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said at least 70 people had been killed in Gaza overnight.
UN agencies have warned that Gaza's 2.4 million people are on the brink of famine, and UN rights chief Volker Turk said Israel may be using "starvation as a method of war".
Blinken had earlier warned that Gaza's "entire population" is suffering "severe levels of acute food insecurity".