The Israeli military’s destruction of entire Palestinian cities and neighbourhoods in the Gaza Strip is a clear manifestation of the genocide Israel has been committing in Gaza for the past 14 months, and a primary tool for its implementation.
This crime has not been confined to the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians or the gradual decimation of two million people’s basic survival elements. It has extended to the complete annihilation of Palestinian cities, obliterating their architectural and civilisational fabric. This systematic destruction aims to erase the Palestinian national and cultural identity, impose permanent forced displacement, prevent return, dismantle communities, and eradicate their collective memory. It is a deliberate attempt to eliminate their physical and human existence while destroying their past, present, and future.
Information documented by Euro-Med Monitor’s field team, alongside testimonies from families forcibly displaced from northern Gaza, reveals that the Israeli occupation army has pursued, since its third ground assault on the northern Gaza Strip starting 5 October 2024, a policy of comprehensive erasure and destruction.
Methods employed include demolition using robots and booby-trapped barrels, aerial bombardment with destructive ordnance, planting explosives for remote demolition, and bulldozing using Israeli military and civilian machinery.
Euro-Med Monitor has meticulously reviewed videos and photographs published by Israeli soldiers and media platforms. Extensive aerial footage confirms the scale of destruction inflicted upon the northern Gaza Strip, with Jabalia camp left entirely in ruins, reduced to piles of rubble and impassable streets.
Entire areas, including Blocks 2, 3, 4, and 5, as well as Al-Alami, Al-Houja, Al-Falluja, Al-Tuwam, and the northern outskirts of Al-Saftawi, have been completely annihilated. Similar devastation has occurred in Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, leaving these once-thriving communities uninhabitable.
The systematic and comprehensive destruction of Palestinian towns and neighbourhoods—targeting homes, infrastructure, and civil and economic facilities—has persisted for over 73 days (since 5 October 2024). The pattern of devastation demonstrates that it is not militarily necessary but serves the deliberate purpose of erasing the Palestinian material and cultural presence. This constitutes a grave breach of international law.
Israel’s actions align with a broader policy of urbicide where the destruction targets not just Palestinian individuals and property, but the erasure of their cultural and civilisational existence. The goal is to obliterate any material or historical trace connecting Palestinians to their land, thereby weakening their ability to remain and survive in their ancestral areas.
Israeli government ministers, officials, Knesset members, and settler organisations openly promote these actions as part of efforts to impose a new demographic and geographic reality—replacing the indigenous Palestinian population with Israeli settlers. This constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and demands immediate intervention, accountability, and justice for the victims.
This policy of urbicide is not limited to northern Gaza. Initial reports from Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, alongside satellite imagery and testimonies, indicate that large areas have been nearly erased. Similar destruction has devastated Khan Yunis, Shuja’iyya, Zeitoun, and neighbourhoods along the Netzarim axis. The destruction extends to homes, streets, infrastructure, and essential civil, economic, and cultural facilities, rendering these areas uninhabitable and systematically preventing Palestinian return.
This urbicide is also tied to the ongoing crime of culturcide, initiated on 7 October 2023. Since then, Israel has deliberately targeted Palestinian archaeological and cultural landmarks in a clear effort to erase the Palestinian cultural heritage. Euro-Med Monitor has documented dozens of cases where the Israeli army targeted mosques, churches, historical buildings, museums, cultural centres, and universities, all integral to Gaza’s cultural identity.
While previous Israeli military operations destroyed key aspects of Gaza’s rich architectural heritage, the current assault represents its near-total obliteration.
Gaza’s heritage belongs not only to Palestinians but to all of humanity. These sites hold cultural and historical significance that transcends national borders, representing a shared global memory. The international community must act urgently to protect these sites, conduct impartial investigations into Israel’s violations, and pressure Israel to cease its systematic destruction.
All states must fulfil their international responsibilities to halt the genocide and other grave crimes being committed by Israel in Gaza. This includes imposing effective sanctions, ensuring compliance with international law and ICJ rulings, and halting all forms of political, financial, and military support to Israel. Immediate cessation of arms sales, transfers, and military aid to Israel is essential, alongside enforcing accountability for crimes against Palestinians. The International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister and Defence Minister must also be executed without delay.
Moreover, countries complicit in Israel’s crimes—most notably the United States and others providing military, financial, and political support—must also be held accountable. This includes states engaging in intelligence sharing, contractual agreements, and other forms of collaboration that enable Israel’s crimes.
Immediate action is imperative to end this unprecedented destruction, bring justice to the victims, and safeguard humanity’s shared heritage and dignity.
EuroMed Human Rights Monitor
CrossFireArabia
