Israel Destroys over 1,000 Buildings in Gaza City
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – More than 1,000 residential buildings in Gaza City’s Zeitoun and Sabra neighborhoods have been completely flattened since August 6, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense.
It confirmed that hundreds remain trapped beneath the rubble as Israeli bombardment and blocked access routes prevent rescue teams from reaching the injured or retrieving the dead. Hospitals across Gaza are overwhelmed and unable to cope with the sheer scale of destruction.
“There are grave concerns about the continued incursion of Israeli forces into Gaza City, at a time when field crews lack the capacity to deal with the intensity of the ongoing Israeli attacks,” the Civil Defence said.
The agency warned that “there is no safe area in the Gaza Strip, whether in the north or south,” noting that civilians are being deliberately targeted in homes, shelters, and displacement camps.
Israeli tanks pushed deeper into the Sabra neighborhood on Sunday as the occupying army attempts to seize full control of Gaza City, forcing nearly one million Palestinians further south. Rights groups warn that Israel is attempting to erase Gaza City in the same way it obliterated Rafah, part of a wider campaign to uproot Palestinians from their land.
Among the latest victims were three people, including a child, killed when Israeli warplanes struck a residential building on al-Jalaa Street. Residents described constant explosions across Gaza City and the devastated Jabalia refugee camp to the north.
Medical sources told Al Jazeera that 27 people were killed in Gaza City alone on Sunday, while 24 more Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli forces as they sought scarce aid parcels at distribution points. The Ministry of Health reported that eight more people died of starvation on the same day, raising the total number of deaths from hunger to 289 since October, including 115 children.
Israeli troops have repeatedly opened fire on starving civilians waiting for food at sites coordinated by the US and Israel-backed GHF.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said famine is the “last calamity” striking Gaza. “People are experiencing hell in all shapes,” he wrote on X, adding: “‘Never Again’ has deliberately become ‘again’. This will haunt us. Denial is the most obscene expression of dehumanisation.”
The Ministry of Interior in Gaza accused Israel of attempting to forcibly displace residents from Gaza City and northern areas, urging citizens not to yield to the occupation’s threats. “We urge citizens and displaced persons residing in Gaza City not to respond to the occupation’s threats and terrorism, and to refuse to be displaced,” it said.
Despite such appeals, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary reported from Deir el-Balah that Palestinians are fleeing Gaza City under relentless bombardment. Families said survival was nearly impossible as Israeli quadcopters fired on anyone moving through the area.
UN experts and international human rights groups have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, where the campaign of mass killing, starvation, and forced displacement has reached catastrophic levels.
