Israel has demolished more than 1,500 homes in the Al Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City since launching a ground operation earlier this month, the Gaza Civil Defence has told Anadolu Agency.

Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesperson for the agency, said no buildings remain standing in the southern part of the neighbourhood following Israel’s approval around the beginning of the month of its plan to occupy Gaza.

“The Israeli army has employed construction machinery alongside bomb-laden robots, detonating seven sites daily while using quadcopter drones to drop explosives on house rooftops,” Bassal said.

The weapons have intensified the scale of destruction in the area, he added.

“The systematic demolition has forced 80 per cent of Al Zeitoun’s residents to migrate to western or northern areas of Gaza City,” Bassal highlighted