I spent the final night of Israel’s 51-day-long assault on the Gaza Strip on the ninth floor of the al Shorouq building, a media building in central Gaza City which had previously been bombed multiple times by Israel. After word spread that the 13-story residential tower known as the Italian Compound was marked for destruction, a series of explosions began to rock the building, sending sparks and plumes of ash pouring into the darkened sky. First, drone strikes hit the roof, an example of Israel’s ‘knock on the roof’ policy of firing a missile with a small payload to signal the imminence of a larger attack. Shortly after, multiple F16 strikes collapsed the building and an adjacent park, sending shrapnel hundreds of feet into the air and destroying the homes of hundreds of people. The massive display of firepower sent billowing thick black smoke and ash over the city. Israeli flares lit up the nighttime sky and naval shelling boomed throughout Gaza.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 10:00:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015