80% of the buildings in Gaza are either damaged or destroyed. Netanyahu has celebrated this, saying: “We are destroying more and more home. They have nowhere to return to. The only expected outcome will be the desire of Gazans to emigrate out of the Strip.” As we read in Haaretz:

“The residents of Gaza have nowhere to return to. The world they knew and their daily lives are simply gone,” says Adi Ben-Nun, director of the Hebrew University Geographic Information System Center. “The devastation is on every level, from homes that have been demolished to public institutions, workplaces, schools and agricultural lands – everything has been destroyed.”

In recent months, Ben-Nun has analyzed satellite images of Gaza using an algorithm to assess the scale of destruction. He estimates that around 160,000 buildings – about 70 percent of all structures in the Strip – have sustained severe damage (at least 25 percent are entirely destroyed), rendering them uninhabitable.

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According to Ben-Nun, the southern city of Rafah – home to about 275,000 Gazans before the war – has suffered the most severe damage, as approximately 89 percent of its buildings are either completely or partially destroyed.

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He estimates that since April, an average of 2,000 buildings have been demolished in the area each month. In recent weeks, the Israeli government unveiled plans to construct a “humanitarian city” on the ruins of Rafah, where most of Gaza’s population will be concentrated.

Ben-Nun adds that in Khan Yunis Governorate, about 63 percent of buildings have been destroyed, while in northern Gaza – which includes the towns of Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia and the Jabalya refugee camp – 84 percent of structures have been ruined. In Gaza City, also in the northern Strip, 78 percent of buildings have been destroyed.

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The only area where destruction is estimated at less than 50 percent, he notes, is Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where roughly 43 percent of buildings have been damaged or demolished.

UN estimates also indicate that beyond residential buildings, the IDF has destroyed at least 2,308 educational institutions and facilities, ranging from kindergartens to universities. According to these figures, every university in Gaza has been either completely or partially destroyed, and 501 of the Strip’s 554 schools are unusable without major repairs. Additionally, 81 percent of roads and streets across Gaza have been damaged or destroyed.

The UN also estimates that the weight of construction debris in Gaza totals about 50 million tons – roughly 137 kilograms (about 300 pounds) of debris per square meter across the Strip.

In August, the UN’s research institute estimated that the volume of construction waste in Gaza is equivalent to 14 times the waste generated by all armed conflicts worldwide since 2008. A few months ago, the organization projected that clearing this debris would take 21 years and cost $1.2 billion.

At the start of the war, most building destruction was caused by explosives, through bombs dropped by the Air Force or structures mined and detonated by engineering units. In recent months, however, the destruction has been carried out mainly through mechanical means, often by private contractors hired by the Defense Ministry that operate under the protection of combat units.

IDF officers told Haaretz that contractors can earn up to 5,000 shekels (about $1,500) for each building they demolish, and that they pressure commanders in the field to expand the scope of destruction, demanding forces to protect their engineering equipment and drivers.

One of the so-called heroes of the demolition effort in Gaza is Rabbi Avraham Zarbiv, who serves as a D9 bulldozer operator during his reserve duty. Zarbiv has boasted about his role in a series of interviews, the latest of which appeared last weekend on the right-wing affiliated website B’Sheva.

“Rafah is being cleared today; there’s no Rafah,” he said. “Northern Gaza is almost entirely leveled. Khan Yunis is next – it’ll be wiped out as well. Why isn’t this happening within 12 days like the war with Iran? Probably because of the spiritual aspect. Here in Gaza, the work is different. In my humble opinion, God wants our job to be simply clearing the land. All this great wickedness, the likes of which we haven’t seen in recent generations, must be wiped out.”

Alongside the methods of destruction, the objectives have gradually shifted as the fighting progressed. In the first year of the war, the destruction was mainly aimed at exposing areas near the border fence with Israel, those close to IDF fortifications and positions, as well as along supply routes. However, since the start of Operation Gideon’s Chariots in early May, it has become clear that the IDF is also carrying out destruction for destruction’s sake.

For example, the Israeli daily Maariv in May reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee: “We are destroying more and more home. They have nowhere to return to. The only expected outcome will be the desire of Gazans to emigrate out of the Strip.”