Beit Hanoun is a Palestinian community located in the northern Gaza Strip, close to the Access Restricted Area (ARA) along the perimeter fence with Israel (see ARA box below). Beit Hanoun sustained heavy damage during the July-August hostilities in Gaza. Approximately 3,600 households were displaced as a result of damage or total destruction of their homes (1,466 destroyed homes and 995 severely damaged), approximately half of Beit Hanoun’s 50,000 residents. All the residents of Beit Hanoun are Palestine refugees.
The Monthly Humanitarian Bulletin | May 2015
Over 12,500 housing units totally destroyed and nearly 6,500 severely damaged in the Gaza Strip during the 2014 summer hostilities, according to latest damage assessments. Concern over the precarious living conditions of approximately 100,000 internally displaced persons, particularly of those belonging to vulnerable groups. Successful spring season harvest in a restricted area in northern Gaza, following rehabilitation interventions. The Israeli army resumed military training exercises in the northern Jordan Valley, leading to the temporary displacement of four herding communities.
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Some communities have been temporarily displaced more than 20 times since 2012
According to the most recent damage assessment of the summer 2014 hostilities in the Gaza Strip, some 12,576 housing units were totally destroyed and 6,455 housing units severely damaged. In total, over 19,000 units were rendered uninhabitable. This has resulted in an estimated 100,000 IDPs who are currently accommodated with host families, in rented apartments, prefabricated units, makeshift shelters, or in their heavily damaged homes. Nearly 150,000 additional units sustained various degrees of damage but remained inhabitable. Most of the destruction and damage occurred in Gaza governorate, followed by the North, Khan Yunis, Middle Area and Rafah, with over 80 per cent of the housing units destroyed or damaged belonging to refugees.
Amidst ongoing access restrictions and insecurity, and despite significant damage sustained during the 2014 July-August hostilities, Palestinian farmers in the Bedouin village of Um an Naser in northern Gaza managed to complete a successful harvest. This was possible, to a large extent, due to sustained support by humanitarian and development agencies and donors, led by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The number of Palestinian-owned structures demolished or dismantled and seized by the Israeli authorities in the West Bank declined in May for the second consecutive month. Overall, a total of 22 structures were targeted, affecting 267 persons, but not resulting in any displacement.
The devastation of residential areas across the Gaza Strip and the resulting mass displacement over the course of the hostilities of summer 2014 were unprecedented. The latest figures emerging from damage assessments carried out by the United Nations indicate that over 12,500 housing units across Gaza were totally destroyed and nearly 6,500 were severely damaged. Almost 150,000 additional units were damaged to some degree, but are still inhabitable.
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