The Israeli army demolished a building of at least 12 floors, known as the Nour Tower, in Gaza City on Saturday, half an hour after a military spokesman issued an evacuation order against the building and other nearby areas.
According to a military statement, this skyscraper was used by Hamas terrorists to"carry out and carry out attacks." Videos from Gaza show the building being bombed and collapsing, raising a large cloud of white dust.
Half an hour earlier, Israeli army Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee had marked the building in red on a map posted on his X account, warning Gazans to stay away from it and head south of the enclave.
Since Israel announced its plans to invade and occupy Gaza City, bombings against the Gaza capital have increased, as have demolitions and the destruction of several buildings used by terrorists.
At least 53,000 Palestinians have lost their homes or tents in Gaza City in less than a week, according to Thursday's figures from the Gaza Civil Defense rescue teams.
Israel had already bombed or detonated in recent days 12 residential towers of more than seven floors, which contained some 500 apartments housing more than 10,000 people, according to this source.
In addition, it had also demolished 120 other buildings, each averaging three stories, leaving more than 7,200 Gazans homeless; this adds to the 30,000 who have fled from half a thousand homes damaged by the incessant bombing.
Some 600 tents have also been destroyed, leaving thousands of people, including families and children, stranded and now facing the threat of displacement, in accordance with forced evacuation orders issued by the Israeli army.
The Israeli army said Saturday that more than 250,000 Palestinians had left Gaza City for other areas of the Palestinian territory, following an intensification of Israeli bombings and attacks in the main city of the enclave against Hamas terrorists.
“According to army estimates, more than a quarter of Gaza City’s million residents have left for their own safety,” said the military’s Arabic spokesman, Avichay Adraee.
According to data from the UN Agency for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), since 14 August more than 122,385 displacements have been recorded in Gaza City, 60% (more than 73,500 movements) from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip.
According to the methodology, a single person can make more than one displacement, so the total number of displaced Gazans could be lower. In Gaza City, it is estimated there were around one million people.
On September 9, faced with the threat of an imminent ground invasion, the Israeli Army ordered the total evacuation of this city , something that some Palestinians still resist due to the difficulty of moving, hunger or the lack of shelter in the south.
“I urge you, for your own safety, to take advantage of Rashid Street and immediately move to the Al Mawasi humanitarian zone and the vacant areas of the central camps as we announced yesterday, where you will enjoy a much improved humanitarian response, including health services,” the spokesperson added.
The Al Mawasi area in southern Khan Younis, also bombed by Israel, occupies 12% of the Strip and is home to tents.
