IDF Hits 3 Gaza Towers As Evacuation From City Surges

The IDF said Sunday morning that dozens of Hamas operatives were eliminated throughout Gaza City in the last 24 hours, as combat in the area intensified and residents fled in large numbers ahead of an expected Israeli push to seize control of the city.

According to the army, three major buildings in Gaza City were struck after troops issued evacuation alerts, including a structure on a university campus that Israel said Hamas terrorists were using.

A new military assessment put the number of Palestinians who have left Gaza City at over 300,000, out of roughly a million who were in the city before the evacuation order.

Residents in Gaza said the Kawthar Tower in Tel al-Hawa was brought down about an hour after a warning from the military, with no immediate word on casualties. The army stated that Hamas had installed surveillance devices inside to track troop positions and facilitate attacks.

Later in the day, Palestinian media aired video of an airstrike on the Mahna Tower in Tel al-Hawa, which also followed an evacuation alert. Soon afterward, Israel demolished the al-Munawwarah City building on the Islamic University campus, according to those reports.

The IDF said Hamas had set up observation points and monitoring equipment in both the Mahna Tower and the university complex to follow its forces.

“Hamas operatives prepared to carry out attacks against IDF troops in the area of one of the buildings that was struck,” the army said.

Five days after Israel instructed all of Gaza City’s population to leave before a planned offensive, officials estimated that more than 300,000 people have already moved south or to other parts of the Strip.

Tens of thousands were reported to have departed over the past day alone.

Before preparations for the offensive began, Gaza City’s population was estimated at about one million. Last week, Israel told all residents to vacate immediately as forces geared up for a major assault against Hamas.

Civilians have been urged to relocate to a humanitarian zone in southern Gaza designated by Israel.

Some accounts on social media suggested that private locals, not Hamas or the IDF, were stopping people from establishing shelters.

The army released footage showing the 282nd Artillery Regiment targeting Hamas positions on Sunday.

In Jabalia and on Gaza City’s outskirts, Givati Brigade troops reportedly killed more than 10 operatives and destroyed Hamas infrastructure. The 215th Artillery Regiment also targeted weapon stockpiles.

Near the Sheikh Radwan area, the 401st Armored Brigade led an assault that killed at least 10 Hamas members spotted nearby, according to the military.

Elsewhere in northern Gaza, the 990th Reserve Artillery Regiment said it eliminated operatives and destroyed an anti-tank missile launcher used in an earlier attack. Units from the Yiftah Reserve Infantry Brigade and the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade also hit several Hamas surveillance sites.

In the south, the Etzioni Reserve Infantry Brigade said its forces took out surveillance equipment and killed several operatives.