Israeli strike flattens Gaza City high rise tower as IDF urges residents to evacuate

An Israeli strike flattened a high-rise in Gaza City on Saturday — the second in as many days — as the military urged residents to move south to a “humanitarian zone” ahead of a planned offensive.

Israel has long signaled an assault on Gaza’s largest city but without giving a date. In recent weeks, it has ramped up airstrikes and operations on the outskirts despite international calls to halt the plan, citing fears of worsening humanitarian conditions.

The military said the latest strike targeted a building where Hamas had set up “intelligence-gathering equipment and observation posts,” adding that it took “measures to mitigate harm to civilians.” Witnesses identified the site as the 15-storey Sussi residential tower, which collapsed in a cloud of smoke and dust. Defence Minister Israel Katz posted a video of the building’s destruction, declaring, “We’re continuing.”

Troops also issued an evacuation order for another tower, warning of an imminent strike, while urging residents to head to Al-Mawasi on Gaza’s southern coast, which the army described as a humanitarian zone.

“Take this opportunity to move early to the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone and join the thousands who have already gone there,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said on social media.

But many Gazans say relocation offers little protection. “Some say we should evacuate, others say we should stay. But everywhere in Gaza there are bombings and deaths,” said Abdel Nasser Mushtaha, 48, sheltering in Rimal after fleeing Zeitun. His daughter Samia, 20, added: “It no longer makes any difference. Wherever we go, death pursues us, whether by bombing or hunger.”