GAZA, Sept 7:The Israeli military has demolished a second tower block in Gaza City in as many days, according to a report by the BBC.
Footage released by Defence Minister Israel Katz on social media showed the Sussi Tower collapsing into rubble, accompanied by the message, “We’re continuing.” The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said the building was being used by Hamas, though the group denied the claim. It is not yet known if there were casualties, the BBC stated.
The strike followed earlier leaflets dropped over Gaza urging residents to move south to what Israel describes as a “humanitarian zone.” Just a day earlier, another major tower, the Mushtaha Tower in al-Rimal, had been reduced to debris after a powerful blast at its base, according to BBC-verified video circulating online.
35 killed in Gaza, 3 in Israel, as violence escalates
The IDF said it had given advance warnings and used “precise munitions” to reduce civilian casualties. But Palestinian officials told the BBC that displaced families were sheltering in the Mushtaha Tower. Gaza’s civil defense spokesman, Mahmud Bassal, accused Israel of pursuing “a policy of forced displacement.”
BBC analysis of satellite images shows that large parts of Gaza City have been flattened in recent weeks, with entire districts erased. The destruction of residential and commercial towers is particularly symbolic: these high-rises, often more than five stories tall, had come to represent the post-Oslo vision of an independent Palestinian future. The construction boom began in the mid-1990s, after Israel’s partial withdrawal from Gaza allowed thousands of returnees to resettle. Neighbourhoods were often defined by the towers that anchored them.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel now intends to take full control of Gaza, after indirect negotiations with Hamas over a ceasefire and hostage release collapsed in July, the BBC reported.
The humanitarian toll is worsening. The UN told the BBC that nearly a million people remain in Gaza City, where famine was formally declared last month. It has warned of a looming catastrophe if the offensive continues, the BBC added.
Israel’s campaign began after Hamas-led fighters stormed southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 251 others. According to figures cited by the BBC from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, more than 63,700 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since then. The same ministry says 367 people have died due to hunger and malnutrition during the war.
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