Israel to target Gaza City buildings

THE Israeli military said it struck a high-rise in Gaza City yesterday, shortly after announcing that it would target a range of structures identified as being used by Hamas, particularly tall buildings.

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Israel has been expanding its forces, intensifying its bombardments and operating on the outskirts of Gaza City ever since announcing its plans to capture the Palestinian territory's largest urban centre after nearly two years of devastating war.

Yesterday, the military said it had “‘dentified significant Hamas terrorist activity within a wide variety of infrastructure sites in Gaza City, and particularly in high-rise buildings”.

“In the coming days, the (Israeli military) will strike structures that have been converted into terrorist infrastructure in Gaza City — cameras, observation command centres, sniper and antitank firing positions, command-and-control compounds,” it said.

Less than an hour later, the army announced that it had struck one such high-rise, adding Hamas had used it “to advance and execute attacks against (Israeli) troops in the area”.

An animated infographic accompanying the first statement showed a video camera on top of a tower block with a Hamas “observation command centre” in the building and an “underground tunnel route” below.

The army said that before yesterday’s strike, “precautionary measures were taken in order to mitigate harm to civilians”, including prior warnings.

“The news about Israel beginning to bomb towers and apartment buildings is terrifying. Everyone is scared and doesn’t know where to go,” said Ahmed Abu Wutfa, 45, who lives in his relatives’ partially destroyed fifthfloor apartment in western Gaza City. “My children are terrified, and so am I. There is no safe place — we only hope that death comes quickly,” he said.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed 19 people yesterday in and around Gaza City, an area which the UN estimates is home to nearly one million people.