Israel bombs more Gaza City high-rises after forced evacuation orders

After warning Palestinian residents to leave the area or risk being killed as a result of the ongoing siege and widespread starvation in the area, the Israeli army bombed another high-rise in Gaza City.

In a map released on Saturday, the Israeli military designated more high-rise buildings as targets. In the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, it bombed the 15-story Soussi Tower, which is opposite a building belonging to the UN Refugee Agency (UNRWA).

Given how long the people are allowed to evacuate, “These attacks are causing panic among the people.” According to Hani Mahmoud, a journalist from Gaza City, “Half an hour or an hour is not enough time for people to leave these buildings.”

Without providing any further details, the Israeli military claimed in a statement that Hamas used the buildings to gather intelligence to track down the Israeli army. Additionally, it claimed that armed Palestinian organizations had dug a tunnel and planted “numerous explosive devices” there.

The claims were refuted by the Gaza-based government media office, which called them “part of a systematic deception used by the occupation to justify the targeting of civilians and infrastructure” and forced Palestinians to flee their homes. Israel allegedly destroyed 90% of Gaza’s infrastructure, according to the statement.

In response to Israel’s plan to seize Gaza City despite international criticism, the 12-storey Mushtaha Tower, which was bombed and ground zero on Friday, was close by.

The Israeli military has killed at least 68 Palestinians and injured 362 others in the Gaza Strip over the past day, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health on Saturday afternoon.

23 aid workers were killed and 143 were hurt by Israeli forces, totaling 23. Israel-caused starvation also claimed the lives of at least six more Palestinians, bringing the total number of starvation deaths during the war’s nearly two years to 382, including 135 children.

Since Israel’s initial attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, at least 64, 368 Palestinians have been killed and 162 have been wounded.

Israel bombs the area and establishes a new “humanitarian zone.”

According to sources at Nasser Hospital in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza, an Israeli airstrike on a tent that housed displaced people in the area claimed the lives of at least two Palestinians and many others.

The Israeli army designated this area as a “humanitarian” or “safe” zone in the beginning of the conflict, but it has since been bombed repeatedly, killing hundreds of displaced civilians.

The Israeli army had announced the establishment of another similar area in al-Mawasi, which runs along Gaza’s Mediterranean coast, just before the most recent bombings. It claimed that the area would have facilities like field hospitals, water lines, desalination facilities, and food distribution.

According to a report from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Palestinians don’t trust the so-called humanitarian area because tents there have already been attacked by Israel numerous times and aren’t safe.

However, residents of Gaza City have few other choices: if they stay, they run the risk of dying, and if they leave, they face road dangers and may need to move their valuables south.

After weeks of ground assaults, those who have returned to their homes in Zeitoun, a neighborhood in Gaza City, discovered everything they owned destroyed.

Aqeeel Kishko, a resident, told Al Jazeera, “What we have built in 50 years was flattened in five days.” Buildings, roads, and infrastructure remain intact. We are walking on both dead bodies and ruins with our loved ones.

Nohaa Tafish claimed that the largest urban center in Gaza would never be resurrected.

What would people go back to? She said, “There can’t be anything else to go back to.”