Eyewitness: Colossal Devastation Gaza

American war journalist Arwa Damon, reporting from Gaza, provides a glimpse into neighborhoods devastated by Israeli airstrikes. The videoclip underscores the dire living conditions faced by Palestinians who are now displaced and homeless.

The clip starts with scenes of the “enormous” levels of destruction of the multi-story buildings. What is the size of bombs that did this the reporter asks.

She is taken on a tour of the wreckage. “This is how people live,” the man said.

“I was going to say. Is this how you are living, amidst the rubble? Damon asks.”

“Yep, this is how we live?”

“This was my parents house,” now of course it’s in absolute wreck.

“This is just beyond the scope of comprehension,” the reporter says.

“We used to sleep here,” one little girl says. “When the Israelis bombed the house, my uncle was martyred, his four sons were killed and so my maternal uncle was martyred as well,” she added.

“We were all inside the house and buried under the debris but thank God we were brought out alive, we were injured but now we are ok.” She pointed out about 10 people were killed in that strike.

“In this block of houses between 87 and 90 people were killed here because of the Israeli bombing,” said another eyewitness.

“A whole neighborhood caved in because of the intensity of the bombings with tower blocks going down… and this is not to say anything about the many people who are still deeply buried under the rubble…which we can get them out.

All of the areas in Gaza that were invaded by Israeli occupation forces have been left unrecognizable, as Israel systematically detonated residential blocks and destroyed critical infrastructure, preventing Palestinians from returning and rendering them completely uninhabitable.

Damon who is the founder of the International Network for Aid, Relief, and Assistance (INARA), observed during her recent trip to Gaza City to distribute aid, “I saw how widespread the destruction is of every single aspect of life that would make the Gaza Strip inhabitable.”

Damon described the scene in Gaza City, saying, “Residents could not recognize the streets or the main thoroughfares because of the level of destruction.”

According to the Israeli  Yedioth Ahronoth the Israeli army has demolished more than 35,000 permanent buildings and 84,000 temporary buildings in Gaza since the beginning of was on Gaza after 7 October 2023.

CrossFireArabia

CrossFireArabia

Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

Related Posts

Jerusalem’s Mamilla in The 1940s

From Rashed Abu Aisheh:

This is Julian Street in the Mamilla neighborhood of the city of Jerusalem. The photo was taken during the 1940s. To the right is the Mamilla Cemetery. Mamilla is one of the neighborhoods of Jerusalem that expanded beyond the walls of the Old City, west of Jaffa Gate, at the end of the 19th century. Before the end of the 19th century, the area had few landmarks, including the cemetery and some monasteries. The Mamilla area witnessed rapid urban changes during the British Mandate period as part of British policies to design neighborhoods according to the European style. These changes continued after the Israeli occupation of the city, which continued to alter the character of Arab Jerusalem, a process that continues to this day. The Mamilla neighborhood, or Mamilla, was home to one of the most important modern wholesale and retail markets in the city during the Mandate period…

Continue reading
Volunteers Collect Stones From Destroyed Mosque To Rebuild it in The Future

Piece by piece, volunteers in the central Gaza Strip are retrieving stones and historic marble columns from the rubble of the Abu Salim Mosque, preserving what survived an Israeli strike in hopes that it can one day help restore the landmark.

The mosque in Deir al-Balah was struck on Aug. 24, causing extensive damage to the courtyard and part of its main structure.

Days later, volunteers from the Guardians of Heritage team began clearing debris from the mosque and its surroundings, collecting scattered stones and marble columns and moving them to a safe location, an Anadolu correspondent at the scene reported. The Guardians of Heritage is a volunteer group clearing rubble and recovering damaged books from the historic mosque.

The campaign was organized by the Mayasir Association for Culture and Arts, in cooperation with the heritage team, with the recovered pieces set aside for possible reuse in future restoration work.

Saving what survived

Mayor Khalil Abu Samra told Anadolu that the Abu Salim Mosque was built in 1951 at the expense of Hajj Mohammed Abu Salim and designed in an Ottoman architectural style.

“We preserved this mosque for many years,” Abu Samra said, voicing hope that the landmark would be restored “by the hands of the Guardians of Heritage and the Guardians of the Homeland” and return to its former appearance.

Shaimaa al-Natour, coordinator of the Guardians of Heritage campaign, said the team moved to the mosque shortly after it was struck to begin what she described as “preventive conservation measures.”

The first phase focuses on recovering scattered stones and historic marble columns and storing them safely, she said, with later stages expected to focus on restoring the mosque.

Al-Natour said the initiative forms part of broader efforts to protect Gaza’s archaeological and cultural heritage despite extensive damage to historic sites during the Israeli war.

Landmark struck before

Built on elevated ground in Deir al-Balah known locally as Al-Hadba Al-Qibliya, the mosque is one of the city’s prominent religious and architectural landmarks.

It underwent restoration in 2010 that preserved many of its original architectural features.

Israeli shelling also struck the upper section of the minaret in 2014 and damaged its facade, which was later restored in cooperation with the Riwaq Center for Architectural Conservation and the Iwan Center for Heritage Architecture.

The Aug. 24 Israeli strike caused far more extensive damage, with Anadolu footage showing widespread destruction inside and around the mosque.

The damage comes amid a much broader toll on Gaza’s places of worship.

Israel has destroyed 1,050 mosques and partially damaged 191 since the war began, out of 1,275 mosques that stood in the enclave before the war, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Endowments.

As many as 1,313 Palestinians have been killed and 4,361 injured in Israeli violations since a ceasefire was signed last October, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Overall, Israel’s war on Gaza since October 2023 has killed at least 73,449 people and injured 174,472. Anadolu

Continue reading

You Missed

Pupils From The Bishop’s School, Jerusalem

  • By Heba
  • August 30, 2026
  • 13 views
Pupils From The Bishop’s School, Jerusalem

Jerusalem’s Mamilla in The 1940s

  • By marwan
  • August 30, 2026
  • 13 views
Jerusalem’s Mamilla in The 1940s

Volunteers Collect Stones From Destroyed Mosque To Rebuild it in The Future

  • By marwan
  • August 30, 2026
  • 14 views
Volunteers Collect Stones From Destroyed Mosque To Rebuild it in The Future

Destitution Gaza: Girl With The Child

  • By marwan
  • August 30, 2026
  • 10 views
Destitution Gaza: Girl With The Child

Omer Bartov: ‘Its Genocide’

Omer Bartov: ‘Its Genocide’

Existence…

Existence…