The Israel Defence Forces said on Sunday that dozens of militants were killed in Gaza over the past 24 hours, as fighting in Gaza City escalated and civilians fled in anticipation of an Israeli push to seize the area.
Hospitals in Gaza reported at least 13 deaths from Israeli strikes on Sunday, while Hamas said 47 people were killed over the previous 24 hours.
The military also reported striking three high-rise buildings, including a university facility it said was being used by Hamas, after issuing evacuation warnings for each site.
“The skyline of Gaza is changing,” Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, wrote on X, sharing footage of the strikes that demolished one of the buildings.
The IDF estimated on Sunday that more than 300,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza City since an evacuation order was issued five days ago, ahead of a planned offensive against Hamas. Tens of thousands reportedly left in the past 24 hours.
Before the order, Gaza City was home to roughly one million residents, as per Israel's records.
Three towers in Gaza City leveled
Residents reported on Sunday morning that the Kawthar Tower in Gaza’s Tel al-Hawa neighborhood was demolished about an hour after an IDF warning. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The military said Hamas had used the building to house surveillance equipment for monitoring IDF troop movements and coordinating attacks.
By afternoon, Palestinian media released footage of an Israeli strike on the Mahna Tower, also in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood, following a similar evacuation warning.
Shortly afterward, Israel destroyed the al-Munawwarah City building on the Islamic University of Gaza campus. According to the IDF, Hamas had placed surveillance equipment and set up observation posts in both locations to track troop movements and advance attacks.
Hamas reportedly “prepared to carry out attacks against IDF troops in the area of one of the buildings that was struck,” the IDF said, as cited by the Times of Israel.
Local hospitals also reported that Israeli strikes hit a vehicle near Shifa Hospital, a roundabout in Gaza City, and a tent in Deir al-Balah, killing at least six members of the same family.
“This is part of the genocidal measures the (Israeli) occupation is carrying out in Gaza City,” Abed Ismail, a Gaza City resident, was quoted as saying by AP. “They want to turn the whole city into rubble, and force the transfer and another Nakba.”
The term Nakba, meaning catastrophe in Arabic, refers to the displacement of around 700,000 Palestinians during and before the 1948 war that led to the establishment of Israel.
The attacks coincided with US secretary of state Marco Rubio’s visit to Israel, where he said he would consult Israeli officials on the next steps in Gaza following last week’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar that disrupted ceasefire efforts.
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