Residential block destroyed after evacuation warning as families flee fires and dozens are displaced in densely populated area west of Gaza City.
Israeli airstrikes hit a multi-storey residential building in the Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City late on Wednesday, destroying the structure, damaging nearby homes and sparking fires that lit up the night sky, according to Palestinian medics and local reports.
Residents received an evacuation warning by phone from Israeli intelligence before the strikes. Two successive attacks flattened the building and caused extensive damage to surrounding structures. Civil defence teams later extinguished the resulting blaze. At least seven people were wounded and taken to Al-Shifa Hospital, a medical source there confirmed.
Dozens of families were forced to flee into the night as emergency crews worked amid the rubble and flames. The Shati camp, one of the most densely populated areas in the Gaza Strip, has long housed Palestinian refugees and people displaced by earlier rounds of fighting.
Escalating Attacks and Growing Casualties:
The strikes on Shati formed part of a series of Israeli attacks across Gaza on Wednesday. In a separate incident, a drone strike in the Al-Majayda area of Al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, killed two Palestinians and wounded 16 others, including children, according to a medical source at Nasser Hospital. Additional shooting incidents were reported near Rafah.
Palestinian authorities said the latest attacks brought the number of people killed in Israeli operations since a ceasefire took effect on 10 October 2025 to 1,209, with 3,943 injured. The overall death toll in Gaza since the war began in October 2023 exceeds 73,000, with more than 174,000 wounded, according to health officials. Around 90 percent of the enclave’s civilian infrastructure has been destroyed or damaged.
Humanitarian Situation in Shati and Across Gaza:
Shati, also known as Beach Camp, sits along the Mediterranean coast and has repeatedly come under bombardment throughout the conflict. Many of its original residents and successive waves of displaced people live in overcrowded conditions, often in damaged buildings or makeshift shelters. Recent strikes have compounded the challenges of repeated displacement, limited access to medical care and ongoing shortages of fuel, water and food.
Media described the sky turning orange from the explosions and residents scrambling to find safety with few options left. Videos circulating from the scene showed thick smoke rising over high-rise blocks and emergency workers navigating debris-strewn streets.
Israel has not issued a detailed public statement specifically addressing the Shati strikes in the immediate aftermath. The Israeli military has previously said its operations target Hamas infrastructure and fighters and that it issues warnings to reduce civilian harm. Palestinian officials and rights groups describe the pattern of attacks on residential areas, even after warnings, as contributing to the destruction of civilian life and the forced movement of populations.
As fires were brought under control in Shati, displaced families faced another night without secure shelter. The latest violence underscores the fragile nature of the ceasefire and the continuing human cost of the conflict in one of Gaza’s most crowded urban refugee camps.