Half of residential units in Gaza damaged by Israeli airstrikes: official

GAZA -- About 50 percent of the Palestinian residential units were partially or completely damaged by the ongoing Israeli attacks on the coastal enclave, a Palestinian official said on Sunday.

"The Israeli occupation is deliberately damaging the residential buildings, public facilities, and service facilities," Salama Maarouf, head of the Hamas-run government media office in Gaza, said in a press statement.

"Because of the intensifying Israeli airstrikes, more than 165,000 housing units were partially damaged and nearly 20,000 housing units were completely demolished or became uninhabitable," Maarouf added.

As a result, about 70 percent of local residents were displaced from their homes and headed to 220 shelter centers or other places throughout the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli airstrikes were triggered by a large-scale Hamas attack on Israeli military targets and towns on Oct 7, which has so far killed at least 1,400 people in Israel. The death toll of Palestinians from Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip has risen to 4,651, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said on Sunday.