Israel’s bombing of Gaza tower blocks uproots hundreds of families at once

Gaza city residents say aerial assault is about more than physical destruction

The tower blocks of Gaza city, which once stood proud, are being razed by the Israeli military. Reuters

Israel's destruction of high-rise buildings in Gaza city is aimed at dismantling the enclave's social fabric, Palestinians say.

On Monday a fourth tower block was attacked in four days, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling the buildings “nefarious terrorist high-rises”.

The military said the latest block targeted was being used as a Hamas observation post, and said explosives had been planted there. Hamas has denied using residential buildings for military purposes.

"I promised you a few days ago that we would bring down the terror towers in Gaza, that's exactly what we're doing," Mr Netanyahu said. He said the blasts were "just a prelude" to Israel's main ground offensive.

The Gaza city skyline, once dotted with high-rise buildings, is gradually being erased. On Saturday an air strike flattened the last tower standing in the city's Al Susi complex after the Israeli military ordered residents to leave. The army claimed Hamas had installed intelligence-gathering equipment and planted explosives around the building, while directing attacks on its troops from tunnels nearby.

It made similar claims before destroying Al Mushtaha Tower on Friday, a 12-storey residential block in the west of the city.

Dozens of smaller apartment buildings scattered across Gaza city have met the same fate. Each strike has uprooted hundreds of families.

Mr Netanyahu on Sunday claimed 100,000 Palestinians have left the area since Israel launched its offensive but the number is difficult to verify. A coalition of aid workers last week said fewer than 15,000 had fled.

For Musab Al Gharbawi, 38, a civil engineer, the destruction of Al Ru’ya building meant the loss of a dream. He had spent years saving for an apartment in the complex, where more than 30 Palestinian families once lived.

“All the hard work and struggle of years disappeared in the blink of an eye,” he told The National. “Suddenly, everything turned into ashes and rubble before my eyes.

“The hardest thing to grieve over are the memories – the birthdays, the family gatherings, the simple daily life. All of it has become just memories.”

Mr Al Gharbawi and his family of six now live elsewhere in Gaza city. They have chosen not to move to the enclave's south as instructed by Israel.

Israel has told Gazans to move to a proposed "humanitarian city" in Rafah that will hold 600,000 people but critics have said that would create a concentration camp.

Many Palestinians have been forced to relocate several times by the fighting since October 2023. Gaza city has endured more than 60 eviction orders this year alone, according to the NGO Mercy Corps, which says the displacement orders are often imprecise or contradictory, pushing civilians into areas already under similar orders.

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One Gazan, who gave their name only as Rami, told the NGO he had been displaced more than 10 times within the city.

"Leaving Gaza city now for the south was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made, emotionally, financially and psychologically, but it became unavoidable," Rami said. "The hardest moment of all was leaving my home, carrying the fear that I would never see it again.”

Wael Mushtaha, 41, a government employee, had only recently returned to the city after months away when the tower demolitions began. He owns an apartment in Tel Al Hawa Towers, which were partially damaged earlier in the war. When his building was hit, he fled south for months but recently went back to repair his home and try to reclaim a sense of normality.

However, the new wave of demolition has shattered that effort. “Ever since the occupation began targeting high-rises again, I’ve felt in extreme danger,” he told The National.

He again fled, renting a truck to carry his belongings to his brother’s home in Deir Al Balah. “At least if the tower is bombed, I won’t lose everything in an instant,” he said.

For the seven members of his family, their apartment is everything. “Losing it would force us into tents, stripped of any means of life, under unbearable conditions."