On September 14, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ordered a series of areas to be evacuated in just a few hours in the morning, before launching missiles to destroy many high-rise buildings in central Gaza. One of the targets is the 11-storey Al Kawthar tower near the Gaza port.
The IDF said the building was used by Hamas to monitor the activities of Israeli soldiers. The IDF said it had issued warnings in advance, used precision weapons and conducted aerial surveillance to limit casualties of civilians.
Al Mohna Tower in the Tel al-Hawa area was also attacked but has not been demolished. At the Islamic University in Gaza, a 6-storey building was completely destroyed. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said this is a "source of propaganda and terrorism" that needs to be eradicated.
On September 13 alone, airstrikes killed at least 74 Palestinians, including more than 50 in Gaza City.
The Al Shati camp was also hit by a bomb, causing a major fire at a shelter for civilians. According to the Gaza Civil Defense Forces, over the past week, more than 130 residential buildings have been destroyed, leaving more than 50,000 homeless.
We are used to living in bombs and bullets, but this time it is different. Every day, people die right next to their homes, said a resident in the Tel al-Hawa area. Here, the multi-storey Al Mohna tower was also hit by a missile, luckily it did not collapse completely.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that since the Hamas attack in October 2023, Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed 64,871 people and injured 164,610 people.
In that context, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu called a meeting with the Foreign Minister, Defense Minister and security leaders to discuss the risks of conducting an infantry campaign in Gaza City, where about 20 Israeli hostages are believed to still be in captivity.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Israel on September 14 to visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Netanyahu and US Ambassador Mike Huckabee. He is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Netanyahu officially on September 15, in which the issue of merging the West Bank may be raised.
Meanwhile, in Doha, leaders of Saudi Arabia and many other Islamic countries are preparing an urgent meeting to express their support for Qatar, after Israel airstrikes the capital last week.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani affirmed that the attacks will "not be able to stop" Doha and Egypt and the US from continuing to make efforts to end the war.
