Gaza Herald- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to launch what he described as an “intense ground operation” targeting Gaza City, issuing warnings for Palestinians in the northern part of the enclave to flee.
In response, Hamas strongly rejected Netanyahu’s threats, denouncing the continued bombardment and destruction of Gaza’s residential towers, most recently the as-Salam tower, as a blatant act of sadism and criminality. The movement stressed that the systematic targeting of high-rises reflects Israel’s deliberate strategy of collective punishment against civilians, stripping families of homes and communities under the guise of military objectives.
Israeli forces dropped hundreds of leaflets over Gaza City, ordering residents to flee south along the al-Rashid Street. Yet those so-called “safe areas” have been repeatedly bombed, exposing what Palestinians call the deception of Israel’s evacuation orders, a prelude to forced displacement and ethnic cleansing.
Netanyahu bragged in a video statement that “50 towers” had already been destroyed in just two days, calling it merely the “opening stage.” Among the demolished buildings was the al-Ruya tower, struck by air raids before collapsing to the ground. Residents described the destruction as not only the erasure of homes but also of their very memories.
“All we hear are bombings and ambulances carrying martyrs,” said Laila Saqr, a Gaza City resident, after the tower where she once attended a gym was obliterated. “Israel destroys everything, even the memories. If they could, they would strip the very oxygen from the air.”
Hamas condemned Netanyahu’s threats as an explicit plan for forced displacement and a continuation of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians. The movement said the destruction of Gaza’s high-rises represented “sadism and criminality” carried out with full American backing.
Gaza’s civil defense agency reported that at least 39 people were killed on Monday alone, including 25 in Gaza City. The true toll is believed to be far higher, as thousands remain trapped under rubble with little access to emergency services due to Israel’s siege.
Even as Palestinians endure this onslaught, resistance operations continue. Israeli authorities confirmed that four of their soldiers were killed when Palestinian fighters struck a tank with explosives.
Meanwhile, international diplomacy remains stalled. Washington has tried to present itself as a mediator, with U.S. President Donald Trump claiming “Israel has accepted my terms” while demanding Hamas comply. Palestinians, however, see such statements as political cover for Israel’s war crimes, given Washington’s continued military and financial support for the assault. Hamas, for its part, announced its readiness to “immediately sit at the negotiating table,” while warning that Israel’s ongoing genocide makes genuine dialogue meaningless unless the siege is lifted and the mass killing ends.
For Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, Netanyahu’s threats are not just military tactics but part of a broader campaign of ethnic cleansing, an attempt to empty Gaza City through terror, starvation, and systematic destruction. What is unfolding is not only a war but the continuation of a long-standing project to erase Palestine itself.
