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Israel aiming for ‘maximal collective punishment’ in Gaza
The destruction of the Mushtaha Tower, a high-rise tower in a densely populated part of Gaza City, is yet another sign of Israel’s willingness to punish a whole community indiscriminately, observers say.
“It is very clear that Israel is hell-bent on causing maximal destruction and maximal collective punishment and has made no secret of that,” Tahani Mustafa, analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told Al Jazeera.
“I don’t think anything Israel has done over the past two years now speaks of a disciplined military operation, and certainly not this,” she said in reference to the destruction of the 12-storey building surrounded by hundreds of makeshift tents for the displaced.
The management of the Mushtaha Tower has rejected Israeli claims that the building was being used by Hamas fighters.
The Mushtaha Tower, located in the western part of Gaza City, was surrounded by hundreds of makeshift tents for the displaced
Chaos in Gaza City after Israel issues evacuation threats ahead of strikes
There are reports of chaotic scenes in Gaza City after Israel issued forced evacuation threats for two high-rise buildings.
One of them is the Soussi Tower, a 15-floor building in front of the UN headquarters. On the same street, there are also universities and an education centre. The other one is the six-floor Al-Ruya building, also in the centre of Gaza City.
Both are located near the Mushtaha Tower, which was bombed yesterday.
Israel’s war has destroyed ‘90% of Gaza’s infrastructure’
Gaza’s Government Media Office has issued a statement on what it says is the 700th day of Israel’s “war of genocide, forced displacement, and ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip, amid shameful international complicity and silence”.
“This war resulted in the near-total destruction of 90 percent of the infrastructure and initial losses exceeding $68bn, with the occupation controlling more than 80 percent of the Gaza Strip through military force and forced displacement,” the statement read.
During its war, Israel “committed bloody massacres” that resulted in the deaths and disappearances of 73,731 people, including more than 20,000 children and 12,500 women, according to the statement.
“The occupation also wiped out 2,700 families from the civil registry, and killed 1,670 medical personnel, 248 journalists, 139 civil defence personnel, and 173 municipal employees. More than 162,000 people were injured, including thousands of amputations, paralysis, and blindness,” it said.
Israeli army bombs Gaza City residential building
Israeli forces have bombed a residential building that served as a shelter for dozens of displaced Palestinian families in Gaza City, escalating its assault on the besieged territory’s largest urban centre.
The flattened al-Soussi residential tower was located opposite the UNRWA building in Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City.
We’ve spoken to Amjad Shawa, the director of the Palestinian NGOs Network, who was very close to the residential tower that was bombed in Gaza City.
- The tower comprised tens of housing units, sheltering so many families, who have now lost their shelter.
- This building has been levelled; there was also severe damage in the neighbourhood.
- It was one of the highest buildings in Gaza City and one of Gaza’s main features.
- This is intentional destruction of the basic infrastructure in Gaza City.
- Israel is trying to change all these kinds of geographical features of Gaza by targeting these buildings, and to suffocate and deepen the humanitarian catastrophe, so as to pressure for the forcible displacement to other places.
