Israel strikes Gaza high-rise, threatens to hit more

Military says Hamas fighters use buildings for surveillance and planned ambushes.

- By WARAA SHURAFA, JULIA FRANKEL AND BASSEM MROUE

SMOKE rises from the Mushtaha tower amid an airstrike on Friday in Gaza City.

Israel struck a high-rise building in Gaza City on Friday after an evacuation warning, as the military stepped up operations aimed at seizing control of the famine-stricken city of some 1 million Palestinians. Strikes elsewhere in Gaza City killed at least 27 people, health officials said.

The military accused Hamas militants of using high-rises in the city for surveillance and planned ambushes, and said it would carry out “precise, targeted strikes” on militant infrastructure in the coming days.

Israel has begun mobilizing tens of thousands of reservists and is repeating evacuation warnings as part of its plan to widen its offensive, which has sparked opposition domestically and condemnation abroad.

Palestinians said Friday’s strike targeted the Mushtaha tower in Rimal, an upscale neighborhood before the war. Gaza City resident Ahmed al-Boari said people fleeing Israeli operations elsewhere in the city had sought shelter in and around the building. Satellite imagery showed a large number of tents nearby.

It was not immediately clear if anyone was wounded or killed in the strike.

Israel said it struck the building because it was used by Hamas for surveillance. Photos of the building taken before Friday's strike showed that its roof was already heavily damaged from earlier raids.

Israel has declared Gaza City, in the north of the territory, to be a combat zone. Parts of the city are already considered “red zones” where Palestinians have been ordered to evacuate ahead of expected heavy fighting.