Israel's bombardment of Gaza City intensifies as Doha summit set to begin

Israel accelerated its heavy bombardment of Gaza City on Sunday, continuing to strike high-rise buildings and UNRWA-run schools turned shelters, as international fallout over the war and Israel's strike on Qatar intensifies.

The latest high-rise in the city to be targeted is the Al Kawthar Tower in the Rimal neighbourhood in Gaza City's south, which was destroyed following a forced displacement order by the Israeli army's Arabic language spokesperson Avichay Adraee.

The strikes on housing in the city have caused the displacement of over 280,000 Palestinians from the area, an objective of the Israeli military, which aims to depopulate and forcibly occupy the whole city.

The UN's agency for Palestine refugees said on X on Saturday that "entire neighbourhoods in Gaza City and Jabalya are being emptied," and that 86 per cent of the enclave is under either displacement orders or militarised zones.

Its chief, Philippe Lazzarini, said: "Gaza is being obliterated. It's becoming a wasteland, and seems to become more and more unfriendly for human living."

An earlier strike against a building in the Al-Hawa neighbourhood, also in Gaza City's south, killed seven people, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Wafa, citing medical sources in Gaza's hospitals, said that at least 32 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since dawn. 64,803 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war.

As Israel continues to wage war against the Gaza Strip, the fallout of its strike on Qatar's capital Doha last week continues to be felt, with Qatar hosting a summit of Arab and Islamic nations to discuss the strike.

The spokesperson of the Secretary-General of the Arab League said that the summit would aim to show solidarity with Qatar as well as support for international law, according to the Qatar News Agency.

He was quoted as saying that the summit also seeks to reject Israeli arrogance and refuse the logic of the law in the jungle in the region.

According to an Israeli source speaking to Israel's public broadcaster Kan, Israel's standing in the Gulf has sunk to its lowest since 2010 when Mossad agents killed Mahmoud Mabhouh in the UAE.

The source was quoted as saying that "Israel’s regional situation is worse than after the elimination of Mabhouh."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel on Sunday to talk about the strike, which he previously said the US was "not happy" about, as well as Israel's war plans for Gaza.