The United Nations has reported that at least 42 per cent of homes in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged during the Israel-Hamas conflict.

In a release earlier this week, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that 164,756 housing units in the region had been damaged.

The homes have been damaged by Israeli military action focused on Gaza following a major assault on Israel on 7 October by Hamas militants.

In the weeks following the attack by Hamas, which governs Gaza and is designated as a terrorist organisation by many Western governments, the Israeli military has struck over 7,000 targets in Gaza.

Over 15,000 housing units reportedly destroyed

According to the UN OCHA report, which quoted figures from the Gaza Ministry of Public Works, 15,100 housing units in Gaza had been destroyed, 10,656 were rendered uninhabitable, and 139,000 units had suffered minor to moderate damage.

It also stated that the damage of the Israeli strikes has resulted in the destruction of whole neighbourhoods, including Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia in the north, Shuja'iyeh and around the Shati' Refugee Camp in Gaza City, and Abbassan Kabeera in the south.

Before and after aerial images have been released by space technology company Maxar depicting the scale of the destruction in cities across the Gaza Strip.

World's third-oldest church struck

Along with homes, numerous other structures have been damaged including a church that is reportedly the third oldest in the world.

A strike on 19 October in Gaza City hit the historic Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius, reportedly killing 18 of the approximately 100 Christian and Muslim Palestinians taking shelter in the building.

On its website, the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem expressed its "strongest condemnation" of the attack on the church as well as other churches, schools and social institutions.

"The Patriarchate emphasises that targeting churches and their institutions, along with the shelters they provide to protect innocent citizens, especially children and women who have lost their homes due to Israeli airstrikes on residential areas over the past thirteen days," it said.

The Israel-Hamas conflict has led to widespread destruction and loss of life. At least 1,400 people were reportedly killed in the attack by Hamas militants that began on 7 October. According to the Hamas-run Gazan health ministry, nearly 5,800 people have been killed in Gaza in the weeks that followed.

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