Israel destroys Southern Zeitoun in Gaza city as civilian death toll mounts

Gaza City: The Israeli military has demolished every building in the southern part of the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City.

According to Gaza’s Civil Defence. Over 1,500 homes were destroyed during an intensified ground offensive launched earlier this month.

At least seven Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes overnight and into the morning, including a woman and her child in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, local medical sources reported to Al Jazeera Arabic.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to deepen. On Wednesday, all members of the UN Security Council—except the United States—endorsed the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)’s declaration that famine in Gaza is a “man-made crisis.” Both Israel and the U.S. have criticized the report’s findings.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump presided over a high-level policy meeting on Israel’s ongoing war and potential post-war governance plans for Gaza. Participants included former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and ex-Trump envoy Jared Kushner, according to a senior White House official.

Since the war began, Israeli military actions have killed at least 62,895 people and injured more than 158,927 in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.