Smoke rises over Gaza City as Israeli airstrikes flatten another high-rise amid escalating violence. Image: The Guardian.
(The Post News) – Israeli airstrikes across Gaza killed at least 40 people on Monday, including a Palestinian journalist, as another high-rise building in Gaza City collapsed in an airstrike. The strike took to at least 50 the number of towers targeted in the city as Israel steps up an effort to seize the enclave’s biggest urban center.
Residents said the bombardment devastated already crowded districts of displaced families. Dozens ran for shelter as Gaza City’s center smoldered and burned. Medics said Osama Balousha, a Palestinian media journalist, was among those killed in the bombardments. The number of deaths reached nearly 250 journalists dead in Gaza, making the war the deadliest conflict for the media in modern history.
Israel’s military stated the destroyed building housed Hamas operations but provided no evidence. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote on X that there was a “mighty hurricane” of strikes yet to come unless Hamas freed all hostages and disarmed. “Disarm and release the hostages, or Gaza will be destroyed and you will be annihilated,” Katz wrote.
Deadly Shooting in Jerusalem
Hours earlier, Katz spoke; attackers targeted a bus stop in occupied East Jerusalem and shot dead six people, among them a Spanish citizen. Israeli police said the attackers were Palestinians from the West Bank and that they had been killed. Hamas praised the attack, saying it was a response to repeated violence, though the group did not claim responsibility.
In the West Bank, Israeli soldiers raided a number of towns, arresting Palestinians and causing damage to property. At the same time, Israeli settlers stepped up their attacks in the area around Nablus. Settlers pelted Palestinian vehicles with stones and torched olive trees in Yatma village, the Wafa news agency reported. The head of the village council, Ahmed Abu Snobar, said there was extensive destruction of crops, which contributed to tension in the region.
For displaced Palestinians, survival has become a daily battle. “We were told to leave because Israel is constantly destroying tall buildings,” Umm Mohammed Jaror, a mother of seven who fled Gaza City, was quoted as saying. “We were searching for a place to take shelter, but we could not find any.”
Others are renting temporary housing at astronomical costs. Dahood Al Ghandor said he spent more than a week looking for shelter. “I looked for days in Khan Younis but couldn’t find anything. I had to rent something at the beach for nearly $200. It’s money I don’t have.”
Gaza Rising Death Toll
Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that Israel’s bombing of Gaza has killed at least 64,522 Palestinians and injured 163,096 since October 2023. Thousands more remain buried under the rubble.
Fighting began after the Hamas-organized attacks of October 7, when 1,139 were killed in Israel and around 200 hostages were taken into Gaza. Israel says 48 hostages are still being held. United States President Donald Trump said his administration was hoping for a result “that could be good for Gaza.” He also issued what he called a “final warning” to Hamas.
The latest US proposal calls for Hamas to release all hostages on day one of a ceasefire, when talks would be held on how to end the war and the Israeli withdrawal. Hamas responded that it would only release hostages if Israel is willing to agree to an immediate complete ceasefire and withdrawal.
Despite international pressure, Israel expanded attacks to strike a 12-story building in the center of Gaza City that was a shelter for dozens of displaced families. Witnesses stated that the building collapsed only hours after its occupants were told to evacuate.
With unabating bombings in Gaza, escalating violence in Jerusalem, and settler attacks in the West Bank, the conflict shows no signs of abating. Civilians remain squeezed between expanding military operations and receding hopes for peace.
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