In the weeks since Israel announced plans to take over Gaza, Israeli forces have destroyed or destroyed more than 1,800 buildings in and around the city, CNN analysis found.
Satellite images taken by Planet Labs on September 5th show the massive demolition of mainly residential buildings when compared to images taken on August 9th, the day after Israel approved the new attack.
Most of the destruction appears to be concentrated in the Zeitoun area south of the city centre. In early September, Israeli forces retreated from their neighbourhoods and blew up the school they used as bases.
Between August 9 and August 17, Israeli forces destroyed parts of the Altaffa district in eastern Gaza city. Thousands of displaced people are evacuated there.
According to an analysis by CNN, Israeli forces also leveled over 750 buildings, just north of Gaza city in Jabaria.
A half-dozen satellite images taken between August 9th and September 5th show that the majority of the destruction was caused by slow execution of the blocks by excavators and bulldozers rather than airstrikes or combat.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces ordered all Palestinian civilians to leave Gaza city and “all neighbours,” prompting widespread fear of worse things going forward ahead of the massive expansion of military attacks.
Israel says seizing Gaza city is key to defeating Hamas, with the military targeting regional extremist groups, including Zeitoun and Jabalya, as well as “terrorist infrastructure.” Israel claims it currently controls around 40% of the enclave’s largest cities.
Images taken on August 19th show Israeli excavators and bulldozers destroying the Zeitoun building. Twenty-four hours later, another image shows the neighborhood another 300 meters (328 yards), leaving behind 26 more destroyed buildings and a truck of heavy machinery that has become a critical feature of the Gaza landscape.
On August 25th, at least 16 excavators will be visible on IDF’s Zeitoun base, with ongoing demolition taking place nearby.
But even before Israeli security cabinets announced plans for an attack on Gaza, the destruction was already visible and profound.
CNN joined the Royal Jordanian Air Force as aided aired the Air Force in the Gaza Strip on August 7th.
Israel does not allow international journalists to enter the Gaza Strip to report independently. CNN relies on Palestinian journalists within Gaza to document their destruction on earth.
Gaza city is the region that was most damaged by Israel’s nearly two years of attack, and much of its infrastructure was still visible in CNN aerial footage and previous satellite images. Since then, many of the buildings that appear to be standing have been completely flat.
Around the area around Gaza city, the rows of tents used for shelter disappeared completely in just a few weeks.
The massive demolition has forced Palestinians who have been evacuated to Gaza City as the threat of Israeli invasion is looming. But many say there isn’t enough space to accommodate more intermediary shelters.
Iman Ilhim, 24, fled from Zeitoun towards the west coast of Gaza city with her 4-year-old daughter and husband, but refused to move south.
“Currently, if you ‘displace’ the Palestinians in Gaza, tears will fall. The cost of displacement is heavy and high, like carrying the weight of a mountain on your shoulder,” she told CNN in a phone interview Tuesday.
Like most Palestinians in Gaza, she was forced to evacuate several times before Israeli military operations, citing fears of security and the exorbitant amounts that costly to transport her belongings as a reason to stay north.
“I don’t think it’s safe in the South. It’s a trick. We’re moving from danger to danger to death. I would rather stay north and risk air strikes by experiencing the experience of displacement again,” she added.
The military also targets and destroys the skyscrapers surrounding evacuation camps, keeping Gaza residents busy in small spaces at all times. The IDF claims that the tower is being used by Hamas as a “terrorist infrastructure” without providing evidence.
Five skyscrapers were bombed between September 5th and 8th, according to Mahmoud Basketball, a spokesman for Gaza’s civil defense.
“Overall, they include 209 apartments, each of which has evacuated at least 20 people during this emergency. That has left homeless people with over 4,100 children, women and elderly people,” he told CNN.
Palestinians in Gaza are facing even more massive displacement along with starvation spreading across densely populated cities.
The integrated food security stage classification (IPC) discovered last month that “artificial” hunger has already been confirmed in Gaza provinces, including Gaza City.
Volkal Tarq, UN Human Rights Director, warned that Israel’s escalation in Gaza city would lead to greater forced evacuation, murder, more unbearable suffering, meaningless destruction and cruelty.
Mai Elawauda, communications officer for Palestinian Charitable Aid Aid, based in central Gaza, told CNN he saw “dozens of people” fleeing from the north to Dea Al Bala following the evacuation order.
“They don’t have tents, they just have to be in open areas on the street. The Almawasi area is already filled with people. The coast is very expensive to find accommodation, and people may not be able to afford to leave their homes in Gaza city and move south to find the right shelter,” she said.
A recent comprehensive UN damage assessment found that around 78% of buildings in the Gaza Strip were damaged or destroyed.
