Rubble and debris litter the streets of the Rimal neighborhood, west of Gaza City, Tuesday, following repeated bombings by Israeli forces. Among the badly damaged buildings, those of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the French Institute.
Rimal resident Mohammad Matar said Israeli forces were in the neighborhood “for a week“and that, during this period, “they destroyed everything“.
Gaza City was targeted by Israeli forces at the start of the Gaza War, which erupted on October 7 after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, for most Israelis, and kidnapping 250 others. More than 100 of them were released in November during a week-long ceasefire.
The offensive caused mass death and destruction, killing at least 25,490 people – mostly women and children – and injuring 63,354 others, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza. This count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The various estimates coming in particular from United Nations agencies estimate that 85% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been driven from their homes by fighting and bombings, whilea quarter of the population in the grip of famine.
