Numerous Israeli officials made it absolutely clear that they were going to reduce Gaza to a tent city and make living conditions unbearable
THE Israelis are quietly carrying out their genocidal assault on the Gaza Strip. They continue to destroy whatever remains of Gaza’s homes after 31 months of uninterrupted barbarism inflicted on the enclave’s besieged residents with the full support and backing of the United States and its Arab and European vassals.
The Israelis have already destroyed more than 80 percent of Gaza’s homes, but they are not done yet. “The IDF’s (Israel Defence Forces) intensified resumption of attacks targeting partially destroyed homes or homes whose residents had attempted to repair using primitive means, reveals a clear intent to continue destroying the residential environment in the Gaza Strip and to impose catastrophic conditions aimed at forcing the population into further displacement and suffering,” the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) reported earlier this week.
“These attacks further reflect a policy based on mass intimidation, the expansion of the cycle of deprivation, and the entrenchment of harsh living conditions imposed on the civilian population in Gaza.”
Over the past few days, PCHR has documented what it describes as “the IDF’s return to the policy of bombing homes and shelters,” asserting that Israeli forces were clearly aware that the targeted buildings were civilian residences, as residents reportedly received calls instructing them to evacuate before the strikes.
The report lists several attacks on residential buildings in recent days:
At approximately 04:05 on Wednesday, 20 May 2026, Israeli warplanes fired a missile at a three-storey house belonging to the Rezeq family near Palestine Stadium on Tariq Bin Ziyad Street in Gaza City.
At approximately 22:25 on the same evening [Tuesday, 19 May 2026], Israeli warplanes targeted a four-storey house belonging to ‘Awni Abu Shammala, which was sheltering several displaced families.
At approximately 01:30 on the same day, Israeli warplanes bombed a plot of land near Al-Tina Street, northwest of Al-Mawasi in Khan Younis, causing extensive damage to the land and surrounding tents sheltering displaced persons.
At approximately 20:30 on Friday, 08 May 2026, several people received phone calls ordering them to evacuate their homes and tents surrounding al-Adam family house on al-Majadla Street in al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City. Families were forced to flee under intense fear without being able to take their essential belongings. At approximately 23:10 on the same day, Israeli warplanes targeted the three-storey house with two missiles. The house was located in a densely populated area, and the attack caused widespread destruction and caused a fire that spread to surrounding areas. Nine people were injured with varying degrees of wounds, one of which was described as critical.
Furthermore, the PCHR report highlighted that the Israeli attacks have not been limited to residential buildings, but have also “extended to the remaining essentials necessary for survival, including agricultural lands, water networks, wells, sanitation infrastructure, and electricity networks.” It all points towards the explicit Israeli aim of making Gaza unlivable for its genocide survivors.
Taken in conjunction with the tight Israeli siege — despite the so-called ceasefire of last October — which prevents the entry of essentials and obstructs all reconstruction efforts, the Israeli designs in the enclave become startlingly clear.
“To date, hospitals, clinics, schools, and universities across the Gaza Strip continue to suffer from widespread destruction and repeated targeting,” the report stated. “As a result, the collapse of essential services has further deepened the deprivation of the population’s fundamental rights.”
PCHR emphasised that the deliberate destruction of Gaza’s residential buildings “forms part of the ongoing acts of genocide perpetrated by the IDF against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”
“This is carried out through the systematic destruction of the essentials necessary for survival and life, and the imposition of living conditions calculated to make life impossible or increasingly unbearable by depriving civilians of safe shelter, expanding the scope of forced displacement, and forcing the population to live in an environment unfit for human life,” it added.
At the start of the genocide in October 2023, numerous Israeli officials made it absolutely clear that they were going to reduce Gaza to a tent city and make living conditions unbearable for its then 2.3 million residents. Their genocidal troops have gone ahead and done exactly that. What is more, they have even recorded their crimes and broadcast them to the whole world — and continue to do so. No one has done anything about it. — Palestine Will Be Free
