Nowhere to run: Israeli strike flattens more high-rises in Gaza City as offensive looms

Israeli forces brought down a high-rise building in Gaza City on Saturday, the second such strike in two days while urging residents to move to a “humanitarian zone” in the south ahead of an anticipated ground push into the city.

Although Israel has been signalling a new offensive for weeks, no timetable has been announced. In the meantime, intensified air raids and ground skirmishes around Gaza City have raised concerns about worsening conditions for civilians.

Most families in the territory have already been displaced multiple times during the nearly two-year conflict, often forced to move to tented areas later struck by Israeli fire. Many now say they are too exhausted and too weak to uproot themselves again.

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Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets over western districts on Saturday, according to AFP, instructing people to evacuate. But some, like Nafez Anis, remain unconvinced. “Where should we go?” he said from the tent where he lives with his family. “We will wait, and when we see Israeli tanks approaching, then we will leave.”

Gaza’s civil defence agency reported that 24 Palestinians were killed during the day, including five near an aid distribution point west of Khan Yunis.

The military confirmed it had struck a tower block in Gaza City, claiming Hamas was using the site “to monitor” Israeli troops and insisting measures were taken to reduce civilian casualties. Witnesses said the 15-storey Sussi residential tower was obliterated. Defence Minister Israel Katz later shared video of the building collapsing in a vast plume of dust and smoke.

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Hamas condemned the attack and denied using residential or civilian buildings for military purposes.

With inputs from agencies