Satellite images analysed by the United Nations Satellite Centre show that 35 per cent of the Gaza Strip’s buildings have been destroyed or damaged in the Israel offensive in the Palestinian enclave, Reuters reports.

In its assessment, the United Nations Satellite Centre, Unosat, used high-resolution satellite images collected on Feb 29 and compared them with images taken before and after the start of the latest conflict.

It found that 35pc of all buildings in the Gaza Strip — 88,868 structures — had been damaged or destroyed.

Among these, it identified 31,198 structures as destroyed, 16,908 as severely damaged, and 40,762 as moderately damaged.

This represents an increase of nearly 20,000 damaged structures compared to the previous assessment it did based on images taken in January that showed 30pc of all buildings had been damaged or destroyed, Unosat said.

“The governorates of Khan Younis and Gaza have experienced the most significant rise in damage, with Khan Younis seeing 12,279 additional damaged structures and Gaza experiencing 2,010,” Unosat said. “Khan Younis City has been hit particularly hard, with 6,663 newly destroyed structures.”