Israel has demolished over 1,500 homes in Zeitoun: Gaza Civil Defence
Israel has demolished more than 1,500 homes in the Zeitoun neighbourhood since it launched a ground offensive earlier this month to seize Gaza City, according to the enclave’s Civil Defence.
Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for the rescue service, told the Anadolu news agency that no buildings remain standing in the southern part of the neighbourhood.
The Israeli army has employed construction machinery alongside bomb-laden robots, detonating seven sites daily while using quadcopter drones to drop explosives on house rooftops, Basal said. The weapons have intensified the scale of destruction in the area, he added.
The systematic demolition has forced 80 percent of Zeitoun’s residents to leave and move towards the western or northern areas of Gaza City, said Basal.
Satellite images reveal vast destruction by Israeli forces in northern Gaza
High-resolution satellite imagery taken between April 6 and late August, and analysed by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking unit Sanad, has found the destruction is concentrated in residential neighbourhoods, including Jabalia al-Balad, Jabalia refugee camp, Tal az-Zaatar, and adjacent regions in northern Gaza – areas that have been the focus of Israeli incursions since the war resumed on March 18.
The analysis shows Israeli forces have penetrated up to 4km (2.5 miles) from Gaza’s eastern border, reaching Jabalia al-Balad and nearby Jabalia al-Nazla.
The images reveal that entire neighbourhoods have been wiped off the map, most notably Izbat Abd Rabbo, Tal az-Zaatar, and significant parts of Jabalia al-Balad.
Jabalia before and after
Not a ‘single spot’ left in Deir el-Balah to pitch tents for displaced people: Mayor
Nizar Ayyash, the mayor of central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah, says there is not a “single spot” left in the city to pitch any new tents for those who have been forcibly displaced.
Ayyash explained that the city’s coast was crowded, the east was under attack, infrastructure was collapsing, and the desalination plant was barely functioning as more people moved to the area from Gaza City following Israeli plans to seize it.
The mayor warned that the humanitarian situation in Deir el-Balah could worsen if further forced displacement continues.
