Khaberni - Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz boasted about destroying 2,500 buildings in the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire agreement took effect on October 10, and he congratulated his soldiers for it.
Katz posted on his account on the X platform last Friday, saying that The New York Times claimed satellite images show that Israel is still destroying Gaza.
He added, quoting the newspaper, "Since the ceasefire came into effect, Israel has destroyed more than 2,500 buildings in Gaza within its controlled areas, and the Shuja'iyya neighborhood in Gaza City was destroyed, entire residential complexes were destroyed, in addition to agricultural areas."
Katz did not deny what the American newspaper stated, but insisted on the accuracy of its content, saying, "When Prime Minister Netanyahu and I gave the orders to the Israeli military: until the last tunnel, that's exactly what we meant, which is the destruction and annihilation of the deadly underground terrorist infrastructure that Hamas built under the homes of the residents of Gaza," in his words.
With determination to continue the breaches, he said, "That’s what we did, and that’s what we will do. We will continue to maintain the security of Israel in the face of near and distant threats."
In response to that, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said on Saturday that Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz’s boasting about destroying hundreds of buildings in the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire came into effect is "an unprecedented recklessness in modern history with regard to international laws."
Qassem added, "What is happening in the Gaza Strip from genocide and ethnic cleansing operations constitutes a complete crime, with a public and explicit confession from the perpetrator," indicating that Katz's statements "require real accountability for the entire occupation system behind these crimes."
The New York Times had revealed last Monday, based on satellite images, that Israel had demolished more than 2,500 buildings in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect.
The images published show neighborhoods turned into bare land, although they had still been partially standing during the war. The destruction was not limited to buildings that had been demolished during the two years of the Israeli genocide war.
Although the analysis of satellite images reveals that the vast majority of these destroyed buildings were within the Israeli military-controlled areas, which constitute more than half of the area of the sector, it also revealed the destruction of dozens of buildings outside those areas.
Despite the ceasefire being in effect, Israel continued its violations, demolishing homes of Palestinians in its controlled areas, which represent more than half of the sector's area, and targeted civilian gatherings, while Hamas repeatedly committed to the agreement, calling for Tel Aviv to take similar steps.
The Gaza government media office said in a statement on Thursday that Israel committed 1,244 breaches of the ceasefire in its first phase, resulting in the martyrdom, injury, and arrest of 1,760 Palestinians since the agreement took effect.
