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<h1 class="gmail-single_title">Israel\u2019s destruction of Gaza\u2019s
towers seen as effort to erase collective memory, intensify
genocide</h1>
<p class="gmail-single_date">Saturday 6-September-2025</p>
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<p>GAZA, (PIC)</p>
<p>Gaza, once etched in the collective Palestinian and Arab
memory as a city of the sea and tall towers defining its
modern skyline, now stands disfigured.</p>
<p>On Friday, Israeli warplanes bombed the Mushtaha Tower near
Ansar Junction in Gaza City, one of the high-rise buildings
that had served as a refuge for thousands of displaced
families during nearly two years of continuous war. The strike
came after weeks of Israeli military operations leveling
hundreds of homes across Gaza\u2019s northern, southern, and
eastern neighborhoods.</p>
<p>Residents described receiving a brief evacuation call before
rushing down stairwells to escape. \u201cWe thought being in a
tower in the middle of the city might bring us some safety,
but the occupation leaves nothing,\u201d said Khalil Ubaid, a
resident. \u201cThe moment the building collapsed before our eyes,
it felt like everything we had left collapsed with it.\u201d</p>
<p>The building\u2019s administration denied Israeli claims that the
tower contained Hamas infrastructure, saying it had only
housed displaced families. Earlier in the day, Israel leveled
the entire structure, repeating a pattern that has unfolded
across the city.</p>
<p>Hours later, panic spread again when evacuation orders were
issued for Makkah Tower, one of Gaza\u2019s architectural
landmarks. Families scrambled out within minutes, clutching
children, identity papers, and a few belongings. \u201cWe thought
we found temporary stability after losing our home in
Shuja\u2019iya,\u201d one displaced mother said. \u201cBut they want us
without shelter, without security, without anything.\u201d</p>
<p
class="gmail-has-vivid-red-color gmail-has-text-color gmail-has-link-color gmail-wp-elements-110c1d20965be7067f125b750b6a7f4e">Systematic
erasure of the city</p>
<p>Human rights activist Mohammed Amin noted that Israel\u2019s
destruction extends beyond scattered homes to the deliberate
targeting of towers that embody Gaza\u2019s urban identity. \u201cThese
towers once symbolized limited progress under blockade; now
they symbolize an organized erasure of the city\u2019s past and
present,\u201d he told PIC.</p>
<p>According to rights groups, since August 11 Israel has
destroyed more than 700 homes across Gaza City\u2019s neighborhoods
as part of a plan to depopulate and occupy the city. Analysts
say the demolition of towers serves a double purpose:
continuing systematic destruction that has already flattened
more than 80 percent of Gaza\u2019s structures, and erasing the
city\u2019s landmarks to strip Palestinians of their collective
memory while forcing mass displacement.</p>
<p>The policy is not new. During the 2014 war, Israel destroyed
11 of Gaza\u2019s most prominent towers, including Al-Basha and
Al-Zafir. In May 2021, Israeli army strikes leveled key towers
such as Al-Shorouk, Al-Jawhara, and Al-Jalaa, which housed
major international media offices.</p>
<p
class="gmail-has-vivid-red-color gmail-has-text-color gmail-has-link-color gmail-wp-elements-b7d2c50651f0670cb1467a0c1baf3111">Beyond
military claims</p>
<p>Experts stress that the targeting of high-rises is not driven
by proven military necessity but by a strategy of genocide.
International law prohibits the deliberate targeting of
civilian housing and infrastructure without clear military
justification, something Israel has consistently failed to
demonstrate. Instead, rights monitors say the objective
appears to be emptying the city of its landmarks, plunging its
residents into endless cycles of displacement, and reducing
Gaza to ruins.</p>
<p>\u201cThese towers were not only homes but also offices, clinics,
shops, and service centers,\u201d Amin said. \u201cDestroying them means
depriving society of its functions and accelerating total
collapse.\u201d</p>
<p>In Gaza\u2019s streets today, displaced families move from house
to tent, carrying fragments of memory that no longer have
walls. Women weep before rubble, children ask why they must
flee again and again. Gaza is not just losing its buildings;
it is losing its urban identity due to a systematic policy of
annihilation.</p>
<p>Each tower that falls takes a piece of the city\u2019s face with
it, but its people insist that memory outlives rubble, bearing
witness to crimes and holding fast to their right to life,
return, and existence.</p>
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<div class="gmail-post-tags"><a
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moz-do-not-send="true">Gaza Strip</a> <a
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