Israel has launched an extensive ground invasion of Gaza City, amid mounting evidence that civilian infrastructure is being demolished in a coordinated campaign that international observers and legal experts say could amount to war crimes and genocide.
The Israeli Defense Forces began their ground assault on Gaza City on September 16, following weeks of intensified bombardment that had leveled large sections of the urban landscape. A CNN analysis indicates that since Israel announced plans to capture Gaza City, more than 1,800 buildings in and around the city have been destroyed or damaged. Satellite imagery shows the destruction occurred primarily through block-by-block demolitions using excavators and bulldozers, rather than combat-related airstrikes.
The Palestinian Civil Defence reports that at least 50 multistory buildings have been demolished in recent weeks, with entire neighborhoods in the Zeitoun district suffering near-total devastation. More than 1,500 homes and structures have been destroyed in Zeitoun alone since early August, leaving swaths of the area devoid of standing buildings.
Multiple investigations point to a systematic demolition campaign that extends far beyond immediate military necessity. The UN Human Rights Office has recorded 270 attacks on residential buildings in Gaza City and North Gaza since August 8, killing at least 379 Palestinians. Separate BBC analysis confirms that thousands of structures in Rafah and Khan Younis have been systematically leveled through controlled explosions and organized demolition operations.
Israeli soldiers who served in Gaza told CNN the military dismantled civilian infrastructure to establish a one-kilometer-wide buffer zone along the Gaza border. These testimonies describe color-coded maps indicating varying levels of destruction and characterize the operations as clear, centralized, top-down directives rather than ad hoc decisions in the field. Satellite images reveal distinctive bulldozer tracks cutting through neighborhoods where buildings once stood, with armored excavators advancing methodically to demolish structures. Human Rights Watch has documented video evidence of Israeli troops laying and wiring explosives inside water infrastructure, suggesting deliberate targeting of civilian utilities.
International legal scrutiny has intensified. On September 16, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. According to the commission, Israeli authorities have committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the 1948 Genocide Convention: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm; deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to destroy Palestinians; and imposing measures intended to prevent births. The commission identified the "systematic destruction" of healthcare, education, and civilian infrastructure as evidence of genocidal intent. At the same time, UN experts described Israel's actions as "the most ruthless, prolonged, and widespread attack against the Palestinian people since 1948."
The scale of devastation to civilian infrastructure is described as unprecedented. Current assessments indicate:
- 78% of all structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed
- 84.6% of water and sanitation infrastructure has been destroyed or damaged
- 94% of hospitals have been damaged or destroyed
- Over half of religious and cultural sites have been obliterated
The UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing has said the scope and intensity of destruction in Gaza is "far worse" than in Aleppo, Mariupol, or even Dresden during World War II. Legal experts have termed the campaign "domicide"—systematic attacks on housing and civilian infrastructure that cause death and widespread suffering.
The infrastructure campaign has driven mass displacement. Israeli evacuation orders have compelled residents to flee toward overcrowded southern areas that lack adequate shelter and services. The UN estimates that between 220,000 and 350,000 people have fled Gaza City, though hundreds of thousands remain trapped in the urban area under bombardment. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification has confirmed famine conditions in Gaza City, with nearly one million people facing critical food insecurity. The documented targeting of water reservoirs, wastewater treatment plants, and agricultural infrastructure has created conditions that observers say are deliberately designed to render population centers uninhabitable.
Evidence also suggests much of the destruction occurs after Israeli forces have established operational control, pointing to organized demolition rather than collateral damage from combat. Amnesty International's analysis of the complete razing of Khuza'a in May 2025 concludes there was a "deliberate destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure" carried out as part of a "calculated plan to impose conditions designed to bring about physical destruction" of Palestinians.
Taken together—soldier testimonies, satellite imagery, human rights documentation, and legal findings—the picture that emerges is of a coordinated, centrally directed campaign to dismantle civilian infrastructure across Gaza. Analysts say the pattern of demolitions, combined with statements by Israeli officials about transforming Gaza and the systematic targeting of systems essential for survival, supports claims that the objective is to render Palestinian areas uninhabitable and force permanent displacement. The findings raise urgent questions of accountability under international law as the ground offensive grinds on.