Daijiworld Media Network – Gaza
Gaza, Sep 5: The Israeli military on Friday destroyed a high-rise building in Gaza City, shortly after announcing it would target tall structures allegedly used by Hamas as part of its offensive to seize the Palestinian enclave’s largest urban centre.
The army said it had identified “significant Hamas terrorist activity” in several Gaza City buildings and warned that such towers would be struck in the coming days. Within an hour of the statement, the Mushtaha Tower in Al-Rimal neighbourhood was levelled by a powerful strike.
The military claimed the building was used by Hamas to coordinate attacks against Israeli forces. It added that precautionary measures and evacuation orders were issued to minimise civilian casualties.
AFP footage showed the tower collapsing after a massive blast at its base, with thick smoke and dust engulfing the area. Survivors said residents were seen throwing belongings from upper floors before fleeing.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said at least 19 people were killed in strikes on Friday in and around the city, which the UN estimates still houses nearly one million people and where famine has been declared.
“They tell tower residents to evacuate, but what about us – the hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians in tents?” asked Arej Ahmed, 50, who lives in a makeshift camp in southwest Gaza City.
Another resident, Ahmed Abu Wutfa, 45, said: “The news about Israel beginning to bomb towers is terrifying. My children are terrified, and so am I. There is no safe place – we only hope death comes quickly.”
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed that operations would intensify, declaring: “The bolt has now been removed from the gates of hell in Gaza.”
According to Israeli army officials, troops already control 40 per cent of Gaza City, with the campaign to take full control expected to displace nearly a million people southwards.
The war, triggered by Hamas’s October 2023 attack that killed 1,219 people in Israel, has since claimed the lives of at least 64,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Gaza’s health ministry figures considered reliable by the UN.