A large part of Zeitoun, a neighborhood in Gaza City, was still standing just three weeks ago. But as Israeli forces have expanded their military campaign, the area has been turned into a barren wasteland, according to satellite images reviewed by The New York Times.
While Israel’s government has announced that the military is planning a full-scale assault of Gaza City, soldiers have not yet moved into a majority of the city. In Zeitoun, forces have already been operating for weeks, dropping bombs on buildings and ordering residents to evacuate.
A satellite image from Aug. 8 showed scores of buildings intact and what appear to be several tent encampments. A separate image of the same area from Aug. 25 showed many, if not most, of the buildings reduced to piles of rubble and the apparent encampments gone.
In recent days, Israeli tanks were seen in Zeitoun, according to satellite images.
The scale of the destruction resembles that of places in Gaza that have been largely flattened over the course of the war, such as Rafah in the south and Beit Hanoun in the north.
“It’s enormous,” said Fadl al-Saifi, 33, a resident of Sabra, an adjacent neighborhood. “It’s heartbreaking to see your friends’ homes in ruins.” He said that, in the past week, he visited Zeitoun to observe the damage.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The military has said that its strikes in Gaza target militants and their weapon caches, and it has stressed that Hamas fighters have embedded themselves in civilian spaces.
In recent days, Mr. al-Saifi said that he heard explosions throughout the day and that they would make his home shake.
“It is so routine that it has become background noise,” he said, adding that he and his younger brother had not evacuated so as to protect their home from looters.
Eli Cohen, a minister in Israel’s high-level security cabinet, has said the Israeli operation in Gaza City should reduce the city to rubble. “Gaza City itself should be exactly like Rafah, which we turned into a city of ruins,” he told Channel 14, a right-wing television station, this month. Some of Israel’s European allies have condemned its plans for an expanded offensive.
Last week, the Israeli military said that it was moving ahead with its preparations to invade Gaza City, calling up an additional 60,000 reservists and announcing plans to extend the duty of 20,000 others. Troops will conduct a “gradual, precise and targeted” operation in and around the city, an Israeli military official said, requesting anonymity to comply with military protocol.
Adam Rasgon is a reporter for The Times in Jerusalem, covering Israeli and Palestinian affairs.
Natan Odenheimer is a Times reporter in Jerusalem, covering Israeli and Palestinian affairs.
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