The Israeli military on Sunday destroyed a high-rise residential building in Gaza City as it continues to escalate its offensive on the city, where UN and US-backed hunger monitors have determined famine is taking place.
Israeli airstrikes leveled the al-Ruya Tower and tents that were set up near it after the Israeli military’s Arabic language spokesman demanded that Palestinians evacuate the area. It marked the third high-rise apartment building destroyed by the IDF in Gaza within three days.
The Israeli military claimed without providing evidence that Hamas was using the high-rise buildings, an allegation Hamas denied.
Israel’s plans for Gaza City involve displacing 1 million Palestinian civilians sheltering there, taking it over, and razing the entire city to the ground, with the ultimate goal of ethnic cleansing. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Sunday that at least 100,000 Palestinians have fled the city so far.
Israeli attacks also hit other parts of Gaza City on Sunday, including a school sheltering displaced Palestinians. The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that at least 46 people were killed in Gaza City and other parts of northern Gaza.
While telling Palestinians to flee to southern Gaza, the IDF also continues attacks across the entire Strip. According to WAFA, at least two Palestinians were killed in central Gaza and another two were killed in the south.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Sunday that Israeli forces killed a total of 83 Palestinians and 409 were injured over the previous 24-hour period. The casualties included 32 people killed while seeking aid and another 132 aid seekers who were wounded.
It said that another four bodies of Palestinians killed in previous attacks were recovered. “A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the streets, where ambulance and civil defense crews are unable to reach them at this time,” the Health Ministry wrote on Telegram.
On top of the violent deaths, the Health Ministry recorded another five starvation deaths, including two children, due to the Israeli siege. “This brings the total number of deaths due to malnutrition to 387, including 138 children,” the ministry said.
Since October 7, 2023, the ministry has recorded the deaths of 64,455 Palestinians and the injuries of 162,776. The ministry said that it added 401 names to the list of dead after their deaths were confirmed. Studies have found that the ministry’s numbers are likely a significant undercount.
