How Gaza's towers became the frontline in Israel's war

Experts say Israel's aim is to render Gaza City uninhabitable

- EZZ AL DIN ABU EISHA

This article first appeared on our partner site, Independent Arabia

Israel has launched a campaign to target multistorey buildings in Gaza, a territory that has already lost much of its urban landscape and where civilian life is reduced to rubble. The residential Mushta Tower was demolished, Mecca Tower was threatened, and all high-rise buildings seem to await similar fates. The destruction of these “residential towers” carries longstanding political, military and civil implications.

While the inhabitants of Mushta Tower were going about their daily lives, Israeli military officers contacted one resident and ordered the evacuation of the 55-metre, 16-storey building, which housed more than 80 apartments that were home to some 400 people.

Located in western Gaza City with a view of the sea, Mushta Tower was one of the most prominent architectural landmarks in the territory’s largest urban complex. It housed restaurants, shops, offices, company headquarters and residential units, and was surrounded by the expansive Al-Kateeba Square.

During the current conflict, the Israeli army had already destroyed the building’s upper floors, a move it says it took to prevent the “detection and surveillance” of its soldiers from a high vantage point. When displaced residents returned to Gaza City, the partially destroyed tower became a temporary shelter for families whose homes had been destroyed, forming the site of the largest tent city in the area, hosting over 2,500 families.

Just hours after the warning was issued, Israeli warplanes struck the tower with four air-to-ground bombs, reducing the entire structure to rubble. Residents, along with the displaced families living nearby, were left homeless on the streets.

Gaza's urban landscape