Gaza Herald – Israeli forces escalated their assault on Gaza by issuing evacuation orders to residential high-rises before bombing them, in what officials described as a widening campaign to force Hamas into surrender.
The Mushtaha Tower was among the first targeted. Residents reported receiving sudden evacuation warnings, followed by strikes on apartments inside the building. A second order was later issued for the Al-Raed Tower in western Gaza.
The management of Mushtaha Tower rejected Israel’s claims that the building was used by Hamas, stressing in a public statement that it housed only civilians and had no military presence whatsoever.
Palestinian political leaders dismissed Israel’s justification as false. Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, said: “Israel lies about residential towers are nothing but flimsy excuses to cover its massacres and its policy of extermination against Gaza’s civilians.”
Eyewitnesses described chaotic scenes as residents hurling personal belongings, including clothes, out of windows in an attempt to salvage what they could. Thousands of displaced families are living in tents and in the streets around the targeted towers, compounding the humanitarian disaster.
The escalation follows comments from Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who declared: “The gates of hell are opening in Gaza.” His statement warned of expanded operations until Hamas accepts Israel’s conditions, releasing all captives, disarming, or facing destruction.
