Israel has bombed and destroyed the tallest residential building in Gaza, the Al-Ghafri high-rise, as it launched a massive wave of strikes on Gaza City on Monday evening, forcing hundreds of thousands of residents to continue to flee the city.
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, says Israel is using unconventional weapons to forcibly evict Palestinians from Gaza City, the largest urban centre in the enclave.
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Israeli media source Channel 12 reported that “exceptionally intense air strikes” were concentrated in the city’s north and west, while the Palestinian Civil Defence said at least 50 multistorey buildings had been levelled in recent weeks as Israeli forces intensified attacks to seize the city.
Other neighbourhoods have been reduced to rubble. In Zeitoun, more than 1,500 homes and buildings have been destroyed since early August, leaving entire blocks with nothing left standing.
For the third day in a row, Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz has posted videos of the attacks. “The terror tower… crashes into the sea off Gaza. Sinking the centres of terror and incitement,” he wrote on X. Katz offered no evidence for his claim that the residential tower was being used by Hamas.
Israel has repeatedly attacked residential areas, schools and hospitals during its 23 months of genocidal war.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health said that 51 Palestinians, including six-year-old twins, were killed in Gaza City in the past 24 hours.
Three journalists were also killed in separate Israeli strikes: reporter Mohammed al-Kouifi in the Nassr neighbourhood, photographer and broadcast engineer Ayman Haniyeh, and journalist Iman al-Zamili. These killings take the number of journalists and media workers killed in Israel’s war on Gaza to nearly 280. Media watchdogs say this war is the deadliest conflict for journalists.
Since October 2023, Israel has killed at least 64,905 Palestinians and wounded 164,926, with thousands more still buried under rubble.
‘Striking every area’
Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan in August to seize Gaza City, which has led to relentless bombardment, forcing residents south towards al-Mawasi.
Many Palestinians say they do not believe they will ever be allowed to return, and fear the journey itself.
“For more than three days, they have been hitting every school and emptying Shati camp [near north Gaza’s coast], striking every area. You cannot even move,” one resident told Al Jazeera.
“That is why I decided to leave with my family – my daughters and my wife – and head to Khan Younis. I don’t even have a tent. I only took a few things; I couldn’t take anything from my home.”
Being pushed into al-Mawasi, the area Israel has designated a “safe zone”, offers no safety as Israel continues to attack the site. The Health Ministry has also said the area lacks the “basic necessities of life, including water, food [and] health services”, and warned of “dangerous” disease outbreaks.
It added that displaced people are subjected to “direct targeting and killing both inside the camps and when attempting to leave them”, in violation of international law.
Israel continues to block aid
Israeli forces shot dead at least five Palestinians waiting for food assistance near al-Mawasi, according to the Nasser Medical Complex.
Meanwhile, the famine is deepening in the Strip. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) declared a famine in northern Gaza on August 22.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that out of the 17 humanitarian missions coordinated with Israel on Sunday, only four were permitted. A mission to deliver water tanks to the north was also denied entry.
Albanese, the UN special rapporteur, told Al Jazeera on Thursday that Israel must be held accountable.
“This is a genocide that could have never happened without the support and involvement of a number of actors,” she said, pointing to Israel’s allies and private sector partners.
Albanese urged governments to “put an end to Israeli impunity” and demand adherence to international law.
