Latest News from Gaza: Towers Collapse as Ground Operation Imminent

---

When Gaza City’s towers collapse, it is not only concrete that falls, but also memories scattered amid displacement and devastation.

As this scene unfolds, the Israeli army is preparing for an imminent ground assault that could usher in an even harsher chapter for the city, home to more than one million Palestinians.

• Israel expands its operations in Gaza: deaths, evacuation orders, and relentless bombardment

• The Night of the New York Declaration in Gaza: Heavy Bombardments and Dismembered Bodies

On Sunday, the Israeli army bombed several high-rise buildings in Gaza City after warning residents to evacuate certain neighborhoods. This marked the latest wave of destruction since Tel Aviv ordered a full evacuation of the city.

Israel’s assault on Gaza appeared to accelerate as the army issued evacuation orders for several towers within a matter of hours on Sunday morning.

• Quarter of a million displaced from Gaza City as Israel vows to defeat Hamas

• The bitter memory of displacement keeps them from fleeing south… Painful stories from the heart of Gaza

The strikes came ahead of a meeting convened by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss efforts to avoid harming hostages still held in Gaza during the planned ground operation to seize control of the city, according to CNN.

The U.S. network, citing an informed source, reported that Thursday’s meeting will include Israel’s foreign and defense ministers, along with military and security chiefs.

It is believed that about 20 hostages remain alive in the enclave, some of them possibly located in Gaza City.

• The Doha Attack and Gaza Negotiations: Towards a Faster Deal or a Prolonged Deadlock?

• Forced evacuation orders precede Gaza’s hurricane: the city of one million under threat

Ground Operation “Very Close”

Two Israeli officials told CNN that the ground operation in Gaza City is scheduled to begin within days.

One said, “It’s very close,” while the other suggested it could start as early as Monday.

UN Buildings Hit

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini announced that at least ten UN facilities had been damaged in Gaza City over the past four days.

He stressed that “there is no safe place in Gaza” and “no one is safe” in the wake of Israel’s “massive” airstrikes on the city and northern Gaza.

The ten facilities included seven schools and two clinics used as shelters for thousands of displaced people.

• Gaza Truce: Trump Anticipates a Deal Soon, Hamas Responds

• Gaza Between the Tents of Hunger and the Shadow of 1948: Is Another Nakba Looming?

Towers Under Fire

On Sunday, Al-Kawthar Tower, an 11-story building near Gaza’s port, was destroyed in an air raid—one of several high-rises damaged since the Israeli army expanded its operations in the city earlier this month, forcing nearly a million residents to flee south.

The army claimed the tower was targeted because “Hamas used it to monitor Israeli troop movements.”

Hours later, following another warning on “X,” a multi-story building known as Mehna Tower in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood was struck but not demolished.

Another building at Gaza’s Islamic University was hit and destroyed by multiple missiles. Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz shared a video of the strikes on “X,” declaring: “The Islamic University in Gaza is burning. We are eliminating sources of incitement and terrorism.”

• Gaza Truce: Washington Delivers Principles of a Comprehensive Deal to Hamas via Israeli Mediator

• Humanitarian zone in Khan Younis: evacuation southwards as Gaza operations expand

Heavy Toll in Displacement and Lives

Gaza’s civil defense announced days ago that more than 50,000 Palestinians had been left homeless after Israel intensified its operations in the city last week. More than 130 residential buildings were destroyed during the same period.

CNN recorded the destruction of at least a dozen high-rises in central Gaza since September 5.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported that since October 7, 2023, 64,871 people have been killed and 164,610 wounded in the territory.

• Gaza War: 700 Days of Bombardments, Displacement, and Famine

• Israel warns Gaza tower residents before targeting it and calls for evacuation of the city

Israel’s escalation coincided with the arrival of the U.S. Secretary of State in the country for talks on the war and hostages.

On Sunday, Marco Rubio visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City with Netanyahu and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. He is set to meet Netanyahu officially on Monday, when, according to three Israeli sources, the prime minister is expected to raise with him his government’s potential plans to annex the West Bank.

• Before the Battle to Invade Gaza… Israel Between Military Mobilization and Soldiers’ Reluctance

• Bloody night in Gaza: 13 killed in dawn airstrikes as tanks storm the city

• Cabinet meeting without a truce… escalation in Gaza and annexation plans in the West Bank