Israeli forces blow up dozens of residential buildings in Gaza's Shujaiya neighbourhood

A video has surfaced showing Israeli forces detonating dozens of residential buildings in Gaza's Shujaiya neighbourhood, where the Israeli military had lost dozens of its fighters.

The video, which was independently verified by The New Arab, showed an officer counting down before pulling on a small device to detonate a bomb.

A massive explosion then goes off behind him, bringing down dozens of buildings at once and leaving a huge smoke of dust. Cries can be heard in the video.

Israeli daily Ynet reported that the incident happened on Wednesday, and at least 56 buildings were destroyed in the bombing.

The daily identified that a senior officer from Israel's 828 Brigade was recording the video. He could be heard saying: "Shujaiya neighbourhood gone".

Voices were also heard saying: "Amazing!", "Victory begins now", and "Long live Israel", as the explosion was happening.

It was not yet clear how many people were killed in the attack.

Israel's relentless bombing in Gaza has destroyed of over a third of the besieged Strip, prompting legal experts to refer to the term "domicide" in describing the unfolding catastrophe, which began on 7 October.

A UN independent housing rights expert has coined the term to refer to the massive, arbitrary destruction of civilian housing in violent conflict.

Ynetnews : The Israeli occupation forces blew up 56 buildings this morning on the suburb of the Shujaiya neighborhood in the Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/rUeCmQlwdM

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) December 20, 2023

 UN Special Rapporteur's Balakrishnan Rajagopal said: "The attacking, bombing and shelling of civilian targets, the razing of entire cities and villages – displacing millions into homelessness – have continued unabated despite the development of modern human rights and humanitarian law."

He has urged the UN General Assembly to consider domicide as a war crime.

Israel's onslaught on Gaza has killed over 20,000 people, mostly women and children. It's military campaign has targetted residential buildings, hospitals and schools - including those ran by the UNRWA.