Nearly 3,000 houses burnt out by Israel in Gaza, media office says

By Anadolu staff

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Nearly 3,000 residential units have been burnt out by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, the government media office said Wednesday.

“These houses were set on fire upon clear and direct instructions from army commanders to render these housing units uninhabitable,” it added in a statement.

It called on the international community to hold Israel accountable “for these ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people.”

Last week, Israeli media outlet Haaretz reported that army commanders had ordered soldiers to burn houses in Gaza “without legal approval.”

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on Gaza following an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas, killing at least 27,708 Palestinians and injuring 77,178 others, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala