Israel razes at least 30 residential buildings in Gaza

Israel’s forces razed dozens of buildings in Gaza City, as the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s arrived in Israel for high‐stakes talks on the Gaza conflict, The New Arab via Reuters reported on September 15th.

According to The New Arab, Palestinian officials told Reuters that at least 30 residential buildings were destroyed on September 14th in Gaza’s biggest city. Israel’s attacks has for weeks levelled suburbs and high-rise buildings ahead of a planned ground invasion, with plans to also forcibly displace the city’s one million inhabitants to the south of Gaza.

Since the campaign intensified in early August, the military estimates that 250,000 people have fled Gaza City following blanket bombardment. Rafah, Khan Younis, and many suburbs of Gaza City have been almost completely destroyed. According to local authorities, Israel has killed at least 64,871 Palestinians since October 7th 2023, with thousands more presumed to be buried underneath the rubble. The enclave’s health ministry has reported at least 422 deaths from malnutrition over nearly two years.

Rubio’s scheduled discussions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to cover, among other issues, the Israeli government’s threats to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank, as well as Israel’s recent strikes in Qatar targeting Hamas leaders. The annexation plans, to seize over 80% of the territory, draw sharp concern from Israel’s Western and Arab partners, particularly under the framework of the Abraham Accords.

The annexation drive could upend delicate Arab–Israeli ties, as it has been argued that formal annexation would wreck normalisation with Arab nations.

The humanitarian situation in the enclave remains catastrophic. A famine has been officially declared in the Gaza Strip, with many thousands at risk of starvation. According to WHO, in July, almost 12,000 children under five were suffering from acute malnutrition—the worst monthly figure on record. Another report from UNICEF shows that in Gaza City, 1 in 5 children are acutely malnourished, and many nutrition centres have been forced to close amid military escalation. Hospitals and medical facilities are overwhelmed, supply lines are disrupted, and many civilians are unable to access basic food or medical care.

Residents describe the escalating violence in vivid terms. Civilians now live in constant terror, with entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble and families unable to find shelter as bombardment intensifies.

The New Arab, Reuters, Maghrebi.org, UNICEF