JERUSALEM — The Israeli military campaign in Gaza has been described as one of the deadliest and most destructive in recent history. The offensive has caused more destruction than the razing of Syria’s Aleppo between 2012 and 2016, Ukraine’s Mariupol, and even the Allied bombing of Germany in World War II. The Israeli military has been using U.S.-made bombs and artillery, including 2,000-pound “bunker-busters” that have killed hundreds in densely populated areas.
With the Palestinian death toll in Gaza surpassing 20,000, the international community is calling for a cease-fire. Israel, however, vows to press ahead, aiming to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities following the militant group’s cross-border rampage that triggered the war.
Despite the destruction, the Biden administration has continued to supply arms to Israel. President Joe Biden recently acknowledged that Israel was losing international legitimacy for what he called its ”indiscriminate bombing.”
Israel’s offensive has destroyed over two-thirds of all structures in northern Gaza and a quarter of buildings in the southern area of Khan Younis. This includes tens of thousands of homes as well as schools, hospitals, mosques, and stores. U.N. monitors have reported that about 70% of school buildings across Gaza have been damaged.
By some measures, destruction in Gaza has outpaced Allied bombings of Germany during World War II. The U.S.-led coalition’s 2017 assault to expel the Islamic State group from the Iraqi city of Mosul was considered one of the most intense attacks on a city in generations, killing around 10,000 civilians.
The Israeli military has not specified what it is using, but weapons experts have been able to draw conclusions by analyzing blast fragments found on-site, satellite images, and videos circulated on social media. They say the findings offer only a peek into the full scope of the air war.
Israel says it has two goals: destroy Hamas and rescue the 129 hostages still held by militants. Eleven weeks into the war, Israel says it has destroyed many Hamas sites and hundreds of tunnel shafts and has killed 7,000 Hamas fighters out of an estimated 30,000-40,000.
But some families of hostages worry that the bombing endangers their loved ones. Hostages released during a weeklong cease-fire last month recounted that their captors moved them from place to place to avoid Israeli bombardment. Hamas has claimed that several hostages died from Israeli bombs, though the claims could not be verified.
Disagree