The occupation destroyed 1,600 buildings and 13,000 tents and displaced 350,000 from eastern Gaza City

SadaNews - The Israeli occupation army has caused extensive destruction in Gaza City since the start of its ground offensive on the city on August 11, according to the government media office in the Gaza Strip, which announced today, Saturday, the destruction of 1,600 residential buildings and 13,000 tents for displaced people, and the displacement of more than 350,000 citizens from the eastern neighborhoods to the center and west of the city. The government media office stated in a statement that the occupation army continues to target Gaza City and its civilian neighborhoods in a "brutal" manner, as part of what it described as systematic destruction policies, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and forced displacement that it has been carrying out since the beginning of its ground operations. It pointed out that statements by the Israeli Security Minister, Israel Katz, when he said that "the gates of hell in Gaza have opened on the resistance," reflect a narrative contrary to reality, emphasizing that "the truth is that the occupation is systematically opening fire on unarmed civilians, destroying homes, hospitals, schools, mosques, and tents, and not against anything else." He added that this targeting constitutes a "flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions, and a continuous justification for genocide, ethnic cleansing, and forced displacement" against the city’s residents, which are crowded with hundreds of thousands of children, women, and the elderly. The media office emphasized that the occupation has completely destroyed more than 1,600 multi-story residential buildings and towers, and severely damaged more than 2,000 towers and other buildings, in addition to destroying more than 13,000 tents housing the displaced. It clarified that since the beginning of September, the occupation has completely demolished 70 towers and residential buildings, and caused significant damage to 120 towers and buildings, in addition to more than 3,500 tents, exacerbating the tragedy of the displaced in the Strip. The government media office also pointed out that these towers and residential buildings contained over 10,000 housing units inhabited by more than 50,000 people, whereas the tents targeted by the Israeli aggression housed over 52,000 displaced individuals. Thus, the occupation has destroyed homes and tents that were sheltering more than 100,000 individuals, resulting in forced displacement exceeding 350,000 citizens from the eastern neighborhoods of Gaza City towards its center and west, in a scene described by the office as "clearly reflecting the commission of war crimes through the policy of systematic ethnic cleansing and genocide." The statement noted that Gaza City administratively includes a number of main neighborhoods and camps, most notably: Shujaiya, Zeitoun, Tuffah, Daraj, North Sands, South Sands, Tal al-Hawa, Sheikh Radwan, al-Sabra, al-Nasr, beach camp, and Sheikh Ajlin, in addition to subdivisions such as al-Hrizeen, Turkman, and al-Muntar in the Shujaiya neighborhood. The government media office concluded by affirming that "the occupation deliberately targets civilians and their homes and places of displacement, and commits genocide, ethnic cleansing, and forced displacement in a clear and systematic manner," calling on the international community to "take urgent action to stop these crimes and provide protection for unarmed civilians." The Israeli army announced today, Saturday, that more than 250,000 people have been displaced from Gaza City to other areas of the Strip in recent weeks, since it escalated its attacks on the city, after an estimated one million people remained in the area. According to United Nations estimates, more than one million people lived in Gaza City and its surroundings before the army intensified its attacks to control Gaza and began destroying high-rise towers about a week ago. On Saturday, Israeli planes dropped leaflets urging residents of western neighborhoods in the largest city of the Strip to leave while the Civil Defense reported ongoing airstrikes. The leaflet stated that the army "is determined to decisively conclude (the battle with) Hamas everywhere and will also operate against it in Gaza City with great force." It added, "At this stage, al-Rasheed Street is open and evacuation can be done through it to the humanitarian area in the Muwassi (south)... For your safety, evacuate immediately." However, the Muwassi area is under heavy artillery bombardment repeatedly. Palestinians say there is no room for additional tents there. The vast majority of the Strip's population, which exceeds two million, have been forced to flee multiple times during the war. Israeli forces have recently destroyed several residential towers in Gaza City, as the army stated it intends to "intensify the pace of targeted strikes... to cause damage to Hamas's terrorist infrastructure... and reduce the threat posed by its forces." The United Nations has repeatedly warned of a "disaster" if the Israeli government's plan to control Gaza City, approved in August, goes forward. Humanitarian organizations condemn the project to forcibly displace the residents of northern Gaza once again to its south.