Investigation reveals Israeli campaign to flatten Gaza town of Beit Hanoon

Al Jazeera’s Sanad portion analysed outer images, uncovering that Israel razed homes successful the weeks since the ceasefire began.

The Israeli service is moving to flatten the remains of homes successful the bluish Gaza Strip municipality of Beit Hanoon, contempt the ongoing ceasefire that began successful October.

Al Jazeera’s integer investigations squad Sanad analysed outer images taken betwixt October 8 – 2 days earlier the ceasefire began – and January 8, and recovered grounds of the operation, which immoderate Palestinians fearfulness whitethorn beryllium a measurement towards the constitution of amerciable Israeli settlements successful Gaza.

Recommended Stories

• list 1 of 3Torrential rains displace thousands successful Mozambique arsenic floods wreak havoc
• list 2 of 3Why did Israel articulation Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ aft raising objections?
• list 3 of 3Azeez Al-Shaair’s anti-genocide note: Muslims tackle NFL good with charity

Sanad recovered that the Israeli service has utilized bulldozers to wide astir 408,000 quadrate metres (4.39 cardinal quadrate feet) of land, including the remains of astatine slightest 329 homes, and cultivation sites, that Israel destroyed during its two-year warfare connected Gaza.

Images from earlier the clearing cognition amusement a Beit Hanoon with damaged buildings from the war, but immoderate remained intact.

But by mid-December, galore of the buildings had been wholly razed, arsenic good arsenic erstwhile cultivation land, replaced by a flattened brownish landscape.

The rubble-removal operations began straight astatine the borderline of Beit Hanoon, facing the obstruction that separates the metropolis from adjacent Israeli settlements on the bluish border, including Sderot, which is astir 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) distant from Beit Hanoon.

Israel has damaged oregon destroyed the bulk of structures successful Gaza – 81 percent by past October, according to the United Nations. Northern Gaza has borne the brunt of the damage, with galore areas, specified arsenic Beit Hanoon, systematically razed to the ground.

A partially-destroyed Beit Hanoon earlier being razed by the Israeli military, October 8, 2025 [Planet Labs PBC]

Settlement plans

The Israeli acold close has consistently openly declared its tendency for Israeli Jews to settee Gaza. In December 2024, Israeli ministers and parliament members visited a determination successful the confederate Israeli municipality of Sderot, overlooking the Gaza Strip. They pointed astatine Beit Hanoon and Beit Lahiya, stating that much than 800 Jewish families were consenting to determination determination “as soon arsenic possible”, according to a study successful the Israeli paper Haaretz.

Additionally, astatine an Israeli league held connected December 23, Defence Minister Israel Katz outlined plans to found agricultural-military bases called “Nava Nahal” – Israeli subject outposts that harvester farming with an equipped beingness successful an effort to consolidate power implicit a territory – successful the northbound of Gaza.

Katz stressed that Israel “will ne'er retreat and volition ne'er permission Gaza”, calling these bases “replacements” for the Israeli settlements cleared successful 2005. That was the twelvemonth Israel withdrew its settlers from the Gaza Strip nether a unilateral disengagement program pursuing the second Intifada.

The withdrawal continues to beryllium a sore taxable for the almighty Israeli acold right, which considers it a mistake that indispensable beryllium corrected.

And adjacent if settlements are not yet built, Israeli leaders person made it wide that they privation to power a buffer portion heavy into Gaza, territory that would yet see areas similar Beit Hanoon.

One Israeli officer, quoted successful the Long War Journal, said that the run to raze Beit Hanoon was portion of an cognition “to make a important information perimeter and marque it precise hard for the force to instrumentality to its infrastructure”.

Israel’s critics accidental the extremity is clear. Speaking to Al Jazeera, United Nations Special Rapporteur connected the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese said that “under the fog of war, Israel is going to destruct Gaza, displace the Palestinians, and effort to reoccupy and conquer the land”.

Israel has violated the ceasefire astatine slightest 1,300 times since it began connected October 10, which includes shooting astatine civilians 430 times and bombing oregon shelling Gaza much than 600 times.