06 September 2016•Update: 06 September 2016
GAZA, Palestine
Around 65,000 Palestinians are still displaced since Israel waged a war on the Gaza Strip in 2014, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
"When the Israeli offensive stopped in 2014, [a total of] 100,000 Gazans were not able to return to their homes, which were completely demolished,” the agency said.
“Until this day, two years after the offensive, 65,000 of them remain displaced," adding that "only 35 percent of people have managed to return to their homes."
According to the Gaza-based agency, the main reasons obstructing the reconstruction process were a lack of "finance and materials due to the ongoing blockade imposed by Israel, and difficulty in coordination with the Palestinian side."
On July 7, 2014, Israel launched the Operation Protective Edge against the Gaza Strip, which ended on Aug. 26, 2014.
The operation led to the killing of 2,147 Palestinians, among them 578 children, 489 women and 102 elderly persons.
According to statistics compiled by the agency, in coordination with the United Nations Development Program, the number of housing units totally destroyed reached 12,000, with the number of partially destroyed homes reaching 160,000.
According to United Nations statements, the agency’s shelters have managed to absorb 300,000 refugees in more than 91 schools and facilities belonging to the UN organization.
*Reporting by Ola Atallah; Writing by Ali Abo Rezeg
