Israel says 20 Gaza towers demolished in 2 weeks as Netanyahu claims 50 \u201cterrorist towers\u201d destroy
\n gaza
\nFor a decade, Palestinian bank worker Shady Salama Al-Rayyes paid into a $93,000 mortgage on his flat in a tall, modern block in one of Gaza City\u2019s prime neighbourhoods. Now, he and his family are destitute, after fleeing an Israeli demolition strike that collapsed the building in a cloud of black smoke and dust.
\nThe September 5 attack on the 15-storey Mushtaha Tower marked the start of an intensified Israeli military demolition campaign targeting high-rise buildings ahead of a ground assault towards the heart of the densely populated city, which started this week.
\nOver the past two weeks, Israel\u2019s armed forces say they have demolished up to 20 Gaza City tower blocks they say are used by Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said 50 \u201cterrorist towers\u201d had been demolished.
\nThe campaign has made hundreds of people homeless. In a similar time frame, Israeli forces have flattened areas in the city\u2019s Zeitoun, Tuffah, Shejaia and Sheikh al-Radwan neighbourhoods, among others, ten residents told Reuters.
\nThe damage since August to scores of buildings in Sheikh al-Radwan is visible in satellite imagery reviewed by the news agency.
\nAl-Rayyes said he feared the destruction was aimed at permanently clearing the population from Gaza City, a view shared by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR). Its spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said in a statement that such a deliberate effort to relocate the population would be tantamount to ethnic cleansing.
\n\u201cI never thought I would leave Gaza City, but the explosions are non-stop,\u201d Al-Rayyes said on Wednesday. \u201cI can\u2019t risk the safety of my children, so I am packing up and will leave for the south.\u201d
\nAl-Rayyes vowed, however, never to leave Gaza entirely.
\nIsrael\u2019s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said in May that most of Gaza would soon be \u201ctotally destroyed\u201d and the population confined to a narrow strip of land near the border with Egypt.
\nIsrael, which has called for all of Gaza City\u2019s civilian residents to leave during the offensive, last week closed a crossing into northern Gaza, further limiting scarce food supplies.
\nIn response to questions for this story, Israel\u2019s military spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Nadav Shoshani said \u201cthere\u2019s no strategy to flatten Gaza.\u201d He said the military\u2019s aim was to destroy Hamas and bring hostages home.
\nTall buildings were used by Hamas to observe and attack Israeli forces, he said, adding that the Islamist militant group used civilians as human shields and also put booby-traps in buildings. Israeli soldiers are regularly killed by IEDs in Gaza.
\nHamas has denied using residential towers to attack Israeli forces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Israel says 20 Gaza towers demolished in 2 weeks as Netanyahu claims 50 \u201cterrorist towers\u201d destroy gaza For a decade, Palestinian bank worker Shady Salama Al-Rayyes paid into a $93,000 mortgage on his flat in a tall, modern block in one of Gaza City\u2019s prime neighbourhoods. Now, he and his family are destitute, after fleeing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":504036,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-504015","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n