Habitability metrics: UNOSAT + IPC + WASH/health

Assessment

What the metrics show: Multiple technical datasets point to severe, system-wide degradation of living conditions in Gaza across shelter, food, water/sanitation, health care, debris, and explosive contamination. - Physical damage: UNOSAT reported large-scale destruction, including an official press note that 35% of buildings were affected by March 20, 2024, and later mapping that about 68% of the road network showed damage by August 18, 2024. These products are satellite-based and flagged as preliminary pending field validation, but they consistently show extensive structural damage hindering mobility and services. ([unitar.org](https://unitar.org/about/news-stories/press/35-buildings-affected-gaza-strip?utm_source=openai)) - Debris and contamination: UNEP’s preliminary assessment (June 2024) estimates over 39 million tonnes of debris, with sewage/solid waste systems collapsed and debris mixed with hazardous materials and UXO—conditions that directly impede safe return and service restoration. UNMAS’ 2025/26 reporting adds that widespread explosive ordnance contamination continues to endanger civilians and block aid and recovery works. ([wedocs.unep.org](https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstreams/241fbead-4f28-4c11-8451-894d62218de3/download)) - Food security: IPC analyses documented extreme acute food insecurity. In Sept–Oct 2024, about 86% of the population was in IPC Phase 3+ (Crisis or worse), with ~133,000 in Phase 5 (Catastrophe). In Aug 2025, the IPC Famine Review Committee confirmed famine (Phase 5, with reasonable evidence) in Gaza Governorate; a December 19, 2025 snapshot then assessed that “famine conditions [were] offset” following a ceasefire but still projected ~1.6 million people (77%) in Phase 3+ through April 2026. These shifts show both the depth of degradation and its sensitivity to access and hostilities. ([ipcinfo.org](https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Gaza_Strip_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Malnutrition_Sep2024_Apr2025_Special_Snapshot.pdf)) - WASH and health services: OCHA/WASH Cluster monitoring found water access well below Sphere standards through 2024–25 (e.g., average ~19 L/person/day in Jan 2025 with wide shortfalls and severe sanitation failures). WHO/HeRAMS and WHO updates reported that only a minority of hospitals were partially functional in 2024–25, with bed capacity and service availability sharply curtailed. UNICEF and WASH partners recorded localized restorations when fuel/spares flowed, underscoring volatility and infrastructure fragility. ([ochaopt.org](https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-situation-update-277-gaza-strip?utm_source=openai)) Why “partly_true”: The metrics robustly establish severe degradation of habitability (in the ordinary-language sense) across critical systems. At the same time, “uninhabitable” is not a technical or legal term, and these datasets—while probative of scale and risk—do not by themselves prove a deliberate policy to make Gaza uninhabitable, nor do they establish perpetual uninhabitability. They also carry methodological limits (e.g., satellite analysis validation limits; IPC evidence standards and later updates; access-driven data gaps). Notably, conditions improved after the October 2025 ceasefire (IPC: famine offset; WASH and services partially rebounded), while Israeli authorities contest IPC famine findings and emphasize their facilitation of aid, water lines and repairs. These counter-records do not negate the severity documented but do qualify absolutist claims. ([ipcinfo.org](https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Gaza_Strip_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Malnutrition_Oct2025_Apr2026_Special_Snapshot.pdf)) Bottom line: As measurement evidence, UNOSAT, IPC, WASH/health and environmental/UXO indicators strongly support that Gaza’s habitability has been severely degraded at scale—subject to important methodological limits and temporal variation tied to access, hostilities, and repairs. Using these metrics to assert legal conclusions about intent or permanent uninhabitability requires additional, target-specific evidence beyond effects-only reasoning.