The Gaza Strip woke up on Tuesday, September 16, in an apocalypse landscape. After a night of intense air strikes, the Israeli army launched a vast land operation in the north of the Palestinian enclave, transforming Gaza into a field of ruins and causing a massive exodus of the inhabitants.
According to several witnesses and humanitarian sources on site, dozens of air strikes have shot themselves simultaneously in different districts of Gaza City, destroying residential buildings, infrastructure and roads. One of the highest buildings in the city, the al-Ghafri tower was completely pulverized, leaving behind a heap of smoking rubble.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that “Gaza burns” and that Israeli forces “strike the terrorist infrastructure”. The army confirmed that it has targeted what it describes as “Hamas command nuclei”.
Trapped civilians
Gaza hospitals, already overwhelmed for months of conflict, are exceeded by the influx of wounded. Doctors describe scenes of chaos, children covered with dust and blood, and whole families who have disappeared under the rubble.
The first estimates report several dozen deaths, including children, and hundreds of injured. The emergency teams are struggling to reach the disaster areas, due to the continuation of the bombings and the collapse of the main roads.
A major terrestrial operation
In the morning, columns of Israeli armored vehicles entered the north of Gaza, especially in the districts of Shuja’iyya and Zeitoun. According to the army, this earthly operation aims to “destroy the tunnels and neutralize armed cells of Hamas”.
