The Israeli military flattened a high-rise in Gaza City on Saturday, the second in as many days, after ordering residents to flee south to a “humanitarian zone” ahead of a planned offensive to seize the city.
For weeks, Israel has warned of an assault on Gaza’s largest urban centre without specifying a date. Despite international appeals to halt the plan, it has intensified air strikes and expanded operations on the city’s outskirts, fuelling fears of worsening humanitarian conditions.
The army said it targeted the Sussi residential tower, claiming Hamas had installed surveillance equipment and observation posts there. Defence Minister Israel Katz released footage of the 15-storey block collapsing in a cloud of dust and vowed more strikes, declaring, “We’re continuing.”
Witnesses confirmed the building’s destruction. The military also ordered another tower evacuated on Saturday, warning of an imminent strike, while urging residents to move to Al-Mawasi, designated as a “humanitarian zone.”
However, residents expressed deep scepticism. “Everywhere in Gaza there are bombings and deaths,” said Abdel Nasser Mushtaha, sheltering in a tent in the Rimal area. “For the past year and a half, the worst massacres of civilians have been in Al-Mawasi.” His daughter Samia added, “Wherever we go, death pursues us, whether by bombing or hunger.”
The war, now approaching its second year, has displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people. The UN estimates nearly one million remain in Gaza City and has warned of “disaster” if Israel proceeds with its ground assault.
Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel killed 1,219 people, according to official figures. Since then, Israel’s offensive has left at least 64,368 Palestinians dead, most of them civilians, according to Gaza’s health ministry figures deemed credible by the UN.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump confirmed Washington is in “deep negotiation” with Hamas over hostages still held in Gaza. Militants seized 251 captives in the 2023 attack; Israel says 47 remain, including 25 believed dead. Trump urged Hamas to release them all, warning of “a tough situation” otherwise.