The Gaza City skyline is in the process of being reduced as the Israel Defense Forces bring down multi-floor buildings used by Hamas as observation and control centers.
Video clips of the IDF toppling a high-rise structure went viral on social media just before the weekend. An Israeli army statement following the action noted that Hamas had installed intelligence equipment and observation posts in the building used to track and direct attacks against Israeli troops.
The area around the building was rigged with explosives, and the building had an entrance to the Hamas tunnel system.
⭕️ In the coming days, the IDF will carry out precise strikes against Hamas terrorist infrastructure in Gaza City:
The IDF has conducted extensive intelligence and identified significant Hamas terrorist activity within a wide variety of infrastructure sites in Gaza City.… pic.twitter.com/Ru9SR6QdNc
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) September 5, 2025
The IDF stressed that it took every precaution to avoid civilian casualties when bringing down the building, including evacuation orders issued hours before the attack began and the use of precision-guided munitions.
Defense Minister Israel Katz on Friday shared a clip of the building being destroyed, warning that Israel’s military operations would only intensify until Hamas releases the remaining hostages and lays down its arm, or is destroyed.
התחלנו pic.twitter.com/PVrtcVXddr
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) September 5, 2025
A day later, he shared a clip of another Gaza high-rise going down.
ממשיכים pic.twitter.com/q4lwpHiUVx
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) September 6, 2025
Settling accounts
In the hours following the Oct. 7, 2023 massacres in southern Israel, an audio clip was released that shocked Israel and the world. In it, a young Palestinian man from Gaza later identified as Mahmoud Afana was heard calling his parents and joyously informing them that he had murdered 10 Jews with his own hands.
“Dad, I’m talking to you from a Jewish woman’s phone. I killed her, and I killed her husband. I killed 10 with my own hands!” the terrorist was heard saying in a recording the IDF released shortly after the massacre. His parents are heard praising Allah for their son’s achievement.
On October 7, Mahmoud Afana called his parents to boast that he had murdered ten Jews.
With his own hands.Listen to his words. This is what Israel is fighting against.
Today, he was eliminated by the IDF. pic.twitter.com/AVDLSTJj5a
— Israel ישראל (@Israel) September 6, 2025
Reports out of Gaza on Saturday indicated that Afana had been targeted and killed in an airstrike in central Gaza district of Deir al-Balach.
The IDF has not yet confirmed the report.
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