90% of Rafah’s residential neighborhoods destroyed by Israel, Gaza authorities say

ISTANBUL

The Israeli army has destroyed 90% of residential neighborhoods in the southern Gaza city of Rafah since October 2023, local authorities said on Sunday.

Gaza’s government media office said that the Israeli army had razed a 12,000-square-meter area in Rafah, turning the city into what it called “one of the most horrific examples of genocide and ethnic cleansing in modern times.”

The office said 85% of the city’s sewage network has been destroyed, creating conditions ripe for disease outbreaks.

All 12 medical centers in Rafah are now out of service, including Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital, which Israeli forces detonated using an explosive robot in the course of its deadly offensive on Gaza, it added.

Israeli strikes have also destroyed eight schools and educational institutions and severely damaged the other remaining facilities in Rafah, the media office said.

More than 100 mosques have also been either destroyed or badly damaged in Rafah, it added.

Rafah spans roughly 60 square kilometers and is home to around 300,000 people. It accounts for around 16% of Gaza’s total area.

The media office said 22 of Rafah’s 24 water wells have been destroyed, leaving tens of thousands without clean drinking water.

The destruction included 320 kilometers of roads in Rafah, it said, warning that the city has become “contaminated and unlivable.”

The office demanded immediate pressure on Israel to withdraw from Rafah, enable displaced residents to return, open safe corridors for aid delivery, and launch reconstruction efforts in the devastated city.

Last weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to escalate attacks on Gaza as efforts are underway to implement US President Donald Trump's plan to displace Palestinians from the enclave.

Nearly 50,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and his former Defense 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.