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gaza city
'Colossal Level of Destruction' as Israel Ethnically Cleanses Gaza City Neighborhoods
"The widespread destruction in Zeitoun," said one group, "is part of a deliberate Israeli policy: completing a campaign of genocide and erasing Palestinian urban life."
Aug 19, 2025
Israeli forces continued bombing, shelling, and shooting civilians and systematically demolishing homes in Gaza City Tuesday as part of a US-backed plan to ethnically cleanse 1 million Palestinians from large parts of the embattled enclave so that Israel can reoccupy the coastal strip.
For more than a week, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) bombing and shelling have pounded areas including the Zeitoun and Sabra neighborhoods of Gaza City, destroying hundreds of homes and also targeting displacement shelters in a bid to force Palestinians to flee to southern parts of the coastal enclave.
According to Al Jazeera, there are approximately 11 displacement centers in Zeitoun, each housing 4,000-4,500 Palestinians, as much of Gaza City's largest neighborhood had already been bombed and razed to the ground in order to create the Netzarim Corridor and "buffer zone."
Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told the Egyptian news site Mada Masr that the IDF is deliberately bombing inhabited apartment towers, wiping out large portions of extended families.
Heavy Israeli air strikes have hit a home in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood, where shrapnel from another attack wounded a child. Israel’s military is intensifying its bombardment following its plan to take over Gaza City and forcibly displace Palestinians south.
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— Al Jazeera English (@aljazeera.com) August 17, 2025 at 2:15 AM
On Tuesday, an IDF strike on the Hosary family home reportedly killed at least 28 people. Although many victims remain trapped in the rubble, rescuing them is impossible, according to Civil Defense officials, as Israeli forces are targeting people who attempt to do so.
"We are terrified because most of the airstrikes on homes came without warning," Zeitoun resident Shady Mohamed told Mada Masr. "The bombardment is everywhere around us."
In addition to massive bombs and artillery shells—many of them supplied by the United States—the IDF is using snipers and quadcopter drones armed with machine guns and explosives to target and forcibly expel Palestinian civilians from Zeitoun and other areas.
"The situation was terrifying," Zeitoun resident Sahar L. told Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor after fleeing. "I clutched my daughter as we walked over shattered glass and rubble, surrounded by smoke, flames, and explosions everywhere. I ran without knowing where to go. God help us. Enough, world, enough."
"... the military levelling buildings in controlled demolitions in multiple parts of Gaza city.. Israel destroyed 450 buildings in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza city in the last 9 days alone. That's almost 50 buildings destroyed every day. Its a colossal level of destruction"
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— Saul Staniforth (@saulstaniforth.bsky.social) August 19, 2025 at 6:11 AM
The tactic isn't new—in 1948, Jewish militias used massacres and the threat thereof to terrorize Arabs into fleeing Palestine as it was conquered by the nascent state of Israel during what Palestinians call the Nakba, or "catastrophe."
Current-day Israeli political and military leaders have called for a new Nakba, including former Gen. IDF Aharon Haliva, who recently said that for every Israeli killed during the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, "50 Palestinians must die," and it doesn't matter "if they're children."
Amid relentless IDF attacks, residents of northern and central Gaza are being pushed southward into the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, where hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced people are being confined in an 11-square-mile area.
Among the dozens of Palestinians reportedly killed across Gaza within the past 24 hours are at least five people—including two children—who died of malnutrition amid what Amnesty International on Monday called a "deliberate campaign" of weaponized starvation caused largely by Israel's blockade on food, medicine, and other vital supplies. At least 266 Palestinians, including 122 children, have starved to death in Gaza since October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
IDF tanks and armored vehicles have faced sustained resistance as they attempt to achieve the objectives of Operation Gideon's Chariots, a US-backed plan to conquer and indefinitely occupy Gaza, ethnically cleanse its Palestinian residents, and open the strip for possible Israeli resettlement. US President Donald Trump has said that he wants to transform Gaza into the "Riviera of the Middle East."
Israel's ethnic cleansing of Gaza City has prompted renewed calls for international action.
"The widespread destruction in Zeitoun... is part of a deliberate Israeli policy: completing a campaign of genocide and erasing Palestinian urban life through the total destruction of homes, infrastructure, and access to basic livelihoods," Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said Sunday.
"The international community, including the United Nations and global legal bodies, must intervene urgently to halt the massacres, protect civilians, and hold Israeli leaders accountable for these heinous crimes against the civilian population," the Geneva-based group added.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague—which is currently weighing a genocide case against Israel—has issued three provisional orders since January 2024 for Israel to prevent genocidal acts, allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, and stop attacking Rafah. Israel has been accused of ignoring or violating all three orders.
The other Hague-based international tribunal, the International Criminal Court (ICC), last year issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant—who ordered the "complete siege" on Gaza—for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes including murder and forced starvation.
Israel's 683-day assault and siege on Gaza has left at least 62,064 Palestinians dead, most of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Experts say the actual death toll is probably much higher, as thousands of people are missing and believed dead and buried beneath rubble. More than 156,500 Palestinians have also been wounded in Gaza.
Under tremendous domestic and international pressure, Israel said Tuesday that it would respond by Friday to a new ceasefire proposal approved by Hamas under which around half of the 20 remaining living Israeli and other hostages and bodies of some who were killed on October 7 or after would be released in a phased exchange deal. In return, approximately 150 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons would be freed.
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'Horrifying Escalation': Global Outcry as Israeli Cabinet Approves Military Takeover of Gaza City
The United Nations' human rights chief warned the move would "result in more massive forced displacement, more killing, more unbearable suffering, senseless destruction, and atrocity crimes."
Aug 08, 2025
Foreign ministers from countries around the world, the United Nations' human rights chief, the families of Israeli hostages, and aid organizations were among those condemning the Israeli security cabinet's approval of a plan early Friday for a full military takeover of Gaza City, a move seen as the opening salvo in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's push for total occupation of the besieged Palestinian enclave.
Netanyahu's office said in a statement that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which already controls much of the Gaza Strip, "will prepare for taking control of Gaza City while distributing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside the combat zones."
Since the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, the Israeli government has systematically obstructed humanitarian aid distribution in Gaza, sparking a growing starvation crisis. The World Health Organization said Thursday that around 12,000 children under the age of five in the strip are suffering from acute malnutrition—a crisis that Israel's newly approved ground operation in Gaza City is likely to worsen.
The Associated Press noted that Gaza City "is one of the few areas in Gaza that hasn’t been turned into an Israeli buffer zone or placed under evacuation orders." An Israeli ground operation in the city "could displace tens of thousands of people and further disrupt efforts to deliver food to the hunger-stricken territory," the outlet added.
Hannah Bond, co-CEO of ActionAid U.K., in a statement on Friday that "this horrifying escalation will forcibly displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who are already experiencing starvation and have nowhere else to flee, and will inevitably result in even more bloodshed."
"The U.K. government has condemned this decision," Bond added, "but it should know by now that words are not enough to stop the Israeli authorities from pursuing a course of destruction."
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Israel's plan for Gaza City "will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict or to help secure the release of the hostages."
"It will only bring more bloodshed," he warned.
"Australia calls on Israel to not go down this path, which will only worsen the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza."
Starmer was among many world leaders who spoke out in the wake of the Israeli security cabinet vote, with the foreign ministers of Australia, the Netherlands, Scotland, China, Turkey, and other nations decrying the impending operation as a disaster that could crush any remaining hope of a deal to end the military assault.
"Australia calls on Israel to not go down this path, which will only worsen the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza," said Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong. "Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international law."
Citing Israel's continued expansion of military operations in Gaza, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday that his government wouldn't authorize any exports of military equipment that could be used in Gaza "until further notice."
"The even harsher military action by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, approved by the Israeli cabinet last night, makes it increasingly difficult for the German government to see how these goals will be achieved," said Merz, referring to a cease-fire and the release of Israeli hostages.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, issued a scathing statement in response to the cabinet vote, saying the Israeli government has "sentenced the living hostages to death and the fallen hostages to disappearance."
"The cabinet decision to launch the process of occupying the strip," the group added, "is an official declaration of the abandonment of the hostages, while completely ignoring the repeated warnings by the military echelon and the clear desire of most of the public in Israel."
Hamas, which governs Gaza, called Israel's plan to "occupy Gaza City and forcibly evacuate its residents" a "new war crime that the occupation army is preparing to commit against the city and its nearly one million inhabitants."
One voice that was conspicuously absent from the global outrage over Friday's cabinet vote was that of the U.S. government under President Donald Trump, who reportedly does not oppose Netanyahu's plan for full occupation of the Gaza Strip. The U.S. is Israel's top ally and leading supplier of weaponry that has been used extensively to massacre civilians in Gaza.
Citing unnamed sources, Axios reported earlier this week that Trump "has decided not to intervene and to let the Israeli government make its own decisions."
Volker Türk, the U.N. human rights chief, said that the Netanyahu government's expansion of its war on Gaza "must be immediately halted," noting that it "runs contrary to the ruling of the International Court of Justice that Israel must bring its occupation to an end as soon as possible."
"On all evidence to date, this further escalation will result in more massive forced displacement, more killing, more unbearable suffering, senseless destruction, and atrocity crimes," said Türk. "Instead of intensifying this war, the Israeli government should put all its efforts into saving the lives of Gaza's civilians by allowing the full, unfettered flow of humanitarian aid."
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Palestinians Say US Responsible for Latest 'Massacre' of Children in Gaza
"U.S. funding of Israeli genocide is ballooning as the Israeli army uses ever more lethal bombs," said Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine, said Sunday after bombing that killed 100 people, mostly civilians, in Gaza City.
Aug 11, 2024
The office of the Palestinian Authority's president is holding the U.S. government responsible for a weekend bombing in Gaza that killed an estimated 100 people, including at least 11 children. The victims of the attack on the al-Tabin school were blown to 'pieces,' according to video evidence and on-the-ground reporting, when U.S.-provided missiles were fired on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City.
In the wake of the attack that stirred global outrage and condemnation Saturday, the Palestinian presidency's spokesperson Nabih Abu Rudeineh condemned the massacre and said the PA held the Biden administration "responsible for the massacre due to its financial, military, and political support for Israel."
Rudeineh demanded the U.S. pressure the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cease indiscriminate attacks that have left hundreds of thousands of Palestinians dead, wounded, and displaced over recent months. In addition, he said, the U.S. must conform to international law by ending its "blind support" to Israel "that leads to the killing of thousands of innocent civilians, including children, women, and the elderly."
As Common Dreams previously reported, the bombing of the al-Tabin school complex came just hours after the U.S. State Department announced the release of $3.5 billion in military aid for Israel and made new weapons transfers available to help refresh the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stockpiles.
"U.S. funding of Israeli genocide is ballooning as the Israeli army uses ever more lethal bombs," said Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine, in an online post Sunday. "The ones used yesterday in the Al-Tabin School massacre sliced bodies to the point of making them unrecognizable. They are now identified by weight: 70kg bag = 1 adult. Revolting."
The head of Gaza's Government Media Office told Al Jazeera that the three bombs dropped on the school weighed 2,000 pounds each, matching the size of the MK-84 munitions provided by the thousands to the IDF by the United States over the last year.
"Another day of horror in Gaza, another school hit with reports of dozens of Palestinian killed among them women, children and older people,” said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), Saturday in response to the attack. "It's time for these horrors unfolding under our watch to end. We cannot let the unbearable become a new norm. The more recurrent, the more we lose our collective humanity."
The UN human rights office said the latest attack was "at least the 21st strike on a school, each serving as a shelter, that the UN [the agency] has recorded since 4 July. These strikes have resulted in at least 274 fatalities, including women and children."
Responding to claims by the IDF that the bombing was aimed at militants it claimed were using the facility, OHCHR said in a statement that "co-location by armed groups of military objectives with civilians" does not release Israel from its "obligation to comply strictly with [international humanitarian law], including the principles of proportionality, distinction and precaution when carrying out military operations. Israel, as the occupying power, is obliged to provide the population it has forcibly displaced with basic humanitarian needs, including safe shelter."
Asked about the situation in Gaza on Saturday, Vice President Kamala Harris, now the Democratic nominee for president, said during a campaign stop in Phoenix, Arizona that she and President Joe Biden have been working "around the clock" to secure a ceasefire deal that would see the fighting end and Israeli hostages held by Hamas returned safely.
Specifically about Saturday's bombing of the school complex, Harris said, "Yet again, far too many civilians have been killed."
"Yet again, there are far too many civilians who've been killed. Israel has a right to go after the terrorists that are Hamas. But as I have said many, many times, they also have, I believe, an important responsibility to avoid civilian casualties."
-- Kamala Harris on Gaza pic.twitter.com/Ir0bysiFT9
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) August 10, 2024
Despite global outrage over Saturday's attack, the Israeli military overnight Sunday issued new evacuation orders for southern Gaza.
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