This article first appeared on our partner site, Independent Arabia
Israel has launched a campaign to target multistorey buildings in Gaza, a territory that has already lost much of its urban landscape and where civilian life is reduced to rubble. The residential Mushta Tower was demolished, Mecca Tower was threatened, and all high-rise buildings seem to await similar fates. The destruction of these “residential towers” carries longstanding political, military and civil implications.
While the inhabitants of Mushta Tower were going about their daily lives, Israeli military officers contacted one resident and ordered the evacuation of the 55-metre, 16-storey building, which housed more than 80 apartments that were home to some 400 people.
Located in western Gaza City with a view of the sea, Mushta Tower was one of the most prominent architectural landmarks in the territory’s largest urban complex. It housed restaurants, shops, offices, company headquarters and residential units, and was surrounded by the expansive Al-Kateeba Square.
During the current conflict, the Israeli army had already destroyed the building’s upper floors, a move it says it took to prevent the “detection and surveillance” of its soldiers from a high vantage point. When displaced residents returned to Gaza City, the partially destroyed tower became a temporary shelter for families whose homes had been destroyed, forming the site of the largest tent city in the area, hosting over 2,500 families.
Just hours after the warning was issued, Israeli warplanes struck the tower with four air-to-ground bombs, reducing the entire structure to rubble. Residents, along with the displaced families living nearby, were left homeless on the streets.
Gaza’s urban landscape
The demolition of Mushta Tower is just the beginning of Israel’s next operation in Gaza, as the army has announced a campaign to target multistorey buildings in central Gaza City. Israeli military spokesperson Ivi Devirin claimed that the strikes on taller buildings came after Hamas allegedly converted them into military infrastructure.
Gaza does not have true high-rise towers or skyscrapers in the conventional sense. Israel restricts the construction of large buildings in the territory, arguing that such structures could expose its own territory and pose a security risk.
Nevertheless, Gaza is home to multistorey buildings of varying heights, the tallest of which has only 16 floors. Each floor typically houses four to six residential units.
According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Gaza City alone has 1,540 multistorey residential buildings, locally referred to as “towers”. Over the course of the 23-month-long war, Israel has destroyed a significant number of these buildings. However, the exact number of towers demolished remains unknown, as housing ministry teams are unable to conduct comprehensive surveys.
What parts of Gaza are still habitable?
During the first and second phases of the Israeli war on Gaza, the military focused on dismantling Hamas’s capabilities, destroying numerous buildings in the process. However, in the third phase of fighting, Israel has shifted its efforts towards systematically bombing and demolishing residential buildings.
Geographically, Israel has completely destroyed the northern Gaza Strip including Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia and Jabalia. They left no buildings standing and destroyed all infrastructure, leaving the north uninhabitable. The army also completely devastated the southern city of Rafah and destroyed nearly 70 per cent of nearby Khan Younis.
Currently, only two areas remain with a small number of buildings intact: Deir al-Balah and parts of central Gaza City. As a result, the territory’s 2.3 million residents are all crowded into the narrow confines of these two areas.
Aware of what remains, Israel launched Operation Gideon’s Chariots 2, targeting Gaza City and Deir al-Balah. Defence Minister Yisrael Katz threatened that Israel would turn the whole of Gaza into a “heap of rubble” as they had done with Rafah and Beit Hanoun. He said: “The gates of hell are now open on Gaza. Our fighter jets are conducting intensive strikes targeting residential towers in the city. The hell will not end until Hamas accepts our terms to end the war; otherwise, the city will be completely destroyed.”
Much of Gaza City was already destroyed during Operation Gideon’s Chariots, and the preparatory phase for the city’s occupation. Eastern neighbourhoods including Shuja’iyya, Zeitoun, Sabra, Tuffah, the Old City, Al-Daraj and Sheikh Radwan were levelled. These neighbourhoods account for 40 per cent of the city’s total area.
What remains of the territory’s largest urban complex are neighbourhoods in western Gaza City, such as Tel al-Hawa, Al-Rimal, Al-Jalaa, Al-Nasr and Al-Shati, where residential towers and multistorey buildings are concentrated. The few other surviving areas are in Deir al-Balah Governorate, which encompasses Deir al-Balah, Al-Nuseirat, Al-Maghazi, Al-Bureij and Al-Zawayda.
Targeting multistoreys is a longstanding approach
Despite the widespread destruction, some of Gaza’s architectural landmarks remain, along with a small number of residential towers and multistorey buildings that the Israeli army has not yet demolished. All of these structures now face the threat of complete destruction.
The policy of hitting towers is not new; Israel first adopted it in 2014. At that time, the approach was partial, but it has since evolved into a comprehensive and sustained strategy during the current war.
Speaking to Independent Arabia, political science professor Mansour Abu Karim explains: “Israel believes that targeting towers increases military pressure on armed factions and sometimes compels them to make concessions in mediator-led negotiations to halt the fighting.”
He adds: “The demolition of multistorey buildings in 2014 served as a powerful leverage against Hamas and other factions. Towers represented the final phases of that war. At the time, Mousa Abu Marzouk, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, called on the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to intervene, leading to a ceasefire based on the agreements of the 2012 war.”
Prof Abu Karim continues: “Israel will continue its policy of targeting residential towers. The current phase of the Gaza war focuses primarily on destroying these buildings, a strategy that could push Hamas into making significant concessions.”
What does this mean for Gaza’s residents?
The destruction of residential towers carries significant social repercussions. Hikmat Youssef, a Gaza resident, spoke about the impact of the demolition of residential towers on the Palestinian community and said: “Bombing the towers is not merely a military act – it is a horrifying message aimed at breaking the will of an entire people, destroying life, uprooting their sense of security, and instilling fear in every child, woman and elderly person. Israel is not targeting stone; it is targeting the meaning of belonging. The aim is to dismantle community bonds and strip people from their roots, making them strangers in their own land – or refugees into nothingness. Tel Aviv wants Gazans to wake up each day asking, ‘Where will we die today?’ rather than, ‘How will we live?’”
Rajai, another Gaza resident, adds: “The destruction of high-rise buildings in Gaza primarily seeks to terrorise civilians and forcibly drive them to flee. This effect is amplified when displaced families’ tents are located near these towers, making the scene of devastation an additional factor in breaking morale and heightening fear of death.”
Meanwhile, Khalil explains: “Israel does not stop at demolishing homes in neighbourhoods and camps; it insists on destroying towers that are prominent landmarks in the city’s memory and identity. Before the war, these towers symbolised Gaza’s relative urban development. Now, they stand as witnesses to a systematic erasure of everything that connects the place to its past and present.”
The demolition of high-rises also has political dimensions. Political analyst Rafiq Hani says: “Residential towers have become symbols of a new approach in this bloody war, based on the systematic destruction of all elements of life. Bringing down tower after tower reflects not only Israel’s determination to expand the scope of destruction but also a deeper strategy aimed at emptying the city of its residents and pre-empting any potential political settlement.”
He adds: “The army’s targeting of residential towers serves multiple objectives, the most prominent of which is to make the Gaza Strip uninhabitable after the war. These towers are the only structures alleviating the territory’s extreme population density. [Gaza is] arguably the most densely populated area in the world. Their destruction will intensify the demographic pressure Gaza already suffers.”
Mr Hani concludes that Israel’s aim in this destruction is to pave the way for displacement, reminiscent of 1948, when terror was used to uproot hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. The current objective is to force mass displacement and leave people with no prospect of return or reconstruction.
Conflicting narratives
From a military standpoint, security expert Wasif Arikat tells Independent Arabia: “Residential towers represent a strategic target for Israel in its operations, as they provide elevated positions that armed factions could exploit to carry out attacks.”
Palestinian Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal, however, accuses Israel of implementing a systematic policy of forced displacement, targeting high-rise buildings. He explains: “This is not just bombing stone – it is a policy of forcible eviction, leaving entire families exposed and homeless, with no safe spaces.”
These concerns were echoed by United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, who said: “Gaza City, long associated in the collective consciousness with its seaside views and iconic towers that defined its modern skyline, now appears featureless. These developments are forcing increasing numbers of people to flee into areas already densely occupied by displaced populations.”
Israel’s military, however, has a different story. Army spokesperson Avichay Adraee says: “Multistorey buildings have been converted into military infrastructure by Hamas. We will target these buildings in the coming days as a prelude to expanding operations in Gaza City.”
He adds: “We have observed intensive armed activity by Hamas in Gaza City, particularly in high-rise towers. The group has integrated intelligence capabilities, sniper positions and rocket launch sites, and established control centres within the towers.”
Mr Adraee adds: “Israel adheres to the rules of war. All measures are taken to avoid civilian casualties, including advance warnings to residents, precision munitions, aerial reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering.”
Hamas, accused of using the buildings for military purposes, denies the claims. Izzat al-Rishq, a member of its political bureau, says: “Attempts to justify targeting residential towers in Gaza are flimsy pretexts and lies. We do not use civilian infrastructure for military purposes. Israel continues a policy of extermination and widespread destruction across the territory.”
Translated by Dalia Mohamed; Reviewed by Tooba Khokhar and Celine Assaf
