Unprecedented Israeli bombardment lays Gaza City’s upscale Rimal to waste

News Network
October 11, 2023

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Gaza City, Oct 11: Collapsed buildings, mangled infrastructure, streets turned into fields of rubble.

Scenes of violence and destruction in the long-blockaded Gaza Strip have filled the world’s airwaves throughout four wars and countless rounds of hostilities between Israel and Hamas. But this conflict, Palestinians say, is different.

On Tuesday, following a night of intense bombardment, residents were struggling to grasp the sheer scale of damage inflicted on Gaza City’s upscale Rimal neighborhood, with its shopping malls, restaurants, residential buildings and offices belonging to aid groups and international media far from the territory’s hard-hit border towns and impoverished refugee camps.

Israel has hit Rimal, also home to Hamas government ministries, in the 2021 war, but never like this.

Israeli bombs blew out walls and ripped off roofs of upper-class apartment towers. They toppled trees that had lined the sidewalks. They uprooted streets that had teemed with businessmen hustling to work and vendors hawking roasted nuts. They leveled mosques and university buildings and wrecked high-rise offices of companies and organizations like Gaza’s main telecommunications company and Bar Association.

Among those broad boulevards full of beauty salons, falafel shops and pizzerias beat the heart of Gaza City. For many, the magnitude of the devastation there, affecting the territory’s middle and upper classes, had symbolic significance.

“Israel has destroyed the center of everything,” said Palestinian businessman Ali Al-Hiyak from his home near Rimal. “That is the space of our public life, our community.”

“They are breaking us,” he added.

After Gaza’s Hamas rulers mounted the deadliest attack on Israel in decades, killing over 1,000 people and taking dozens hostage in a multi-pronged offensive, Israel unleashed what Gaza residents described as the most intense bombing campaign in recent memory, with hundreds of airstrikes Monday night.

“These sounds are different,” 30-year-old Saman Ashour in Gaza City texted as she lay awake in a neighborhood north of Rimal, listening to the roar of explosions. “It’s the sound of revenge.”

Residents said the Israeli military struck some buildings without first firing warning missiles as a precaution. The civilian death toll has been rapidly rising. Overall, Gaza health officials have reported the airstrikes have killed over 800 people and wounded thousands more. Israel has also cut off Gaza’s water supplies and electricity, worsening the territory’s already abysmal humanitarian conditions.

The Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said that Israel was trying to “evacuate civilian populations from areas where Hamas has a military presence” before unleashing “powerful destruction.”

That tactic is evident from staggering drone footage that shows vast swaths of central Gaza City reduced to nothing but dirt craters and ruins from demolished buildings.

But most Palestinian civilians did not evacuate. There are no bomb shelters. Israel and Egypt tightly control the enclave’s borders and have not let anyone out. UN shelters are rapidly filling up.

After the Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israeli civilians and soldiers, which stunned and terrorized a country long seen as invincible, analysts said it was clear the group bet all of its chips no matter the consequences. Israel was now waging a war not to repel Hamas, like in past rounds, but to destroy it.

“The strategic prospect is to annihilate, destroy and demolish the military capacity of Hamas,” said Kobi Michael, a senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, an Israeli think tank. “Hamas brought this on the heads of the Gazans.”

“If Israel is not aggressive enough,” he added, “that will only drag us to another front and to another conflict.”

But Palestinians in Gaza see the Israeli military’s wrath as collective punishment.

“We’re talking about damage to hospitals that can’t even run without fuel, the total demolition of homes and infrastructure,” said Iyad Bozum, spokesman for Gaza’s Interior Ministry. “At the end of this there will be nothing left to even reconstruct. It will be impossible to live here.”

The strikes on Rimal early Tuesday killed ordinary residents like shopkeepers and local journalists and destroyed dozens of homes.

Issa Abu Salim, 60, was seething as he stood amid the debris of his home, his clothes filthy with the dust of the destruction.

“Our money is gone. My identity cards are lost. The entire house, all four floors, is lost,” he said. “The most beautiful area, they destroyed it.”

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News Network
December 2,2025

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Bengaluru: 'Nati koli saaru' (country chicken curry) considered one of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s favourites along with steaming hot idlis was on the breakfast menu at Deputy CM D K Shivakumar’s residence on Tuesday, according to official sources.

The spread also included 'nati koli' fry, vada and pongal, among other items, they said.

In an apparent show of unity, Siddaramaiah visited Shivakumar’s residence for breakfast, just days after the two leaders shared a meal amid a simmering power tussle in the state Congress.

Siddaramaiah drove to the Deputy CM’s residence in Sadashivanagar, where he was received by Shivakumar and his brother D K Suresh, who is a former Congress MP.

Suresh and Kunigal MLA H D Ranganath, a relative of Shivakumar, joined them for breakfast, which featured a mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.

Speaking to reporters later, Siddaramaiah said Shivakumar had invited him during his visit to the CM’s residence for breakfast on Saturday.

Asked about the difference between the two meals, the chief minister said, "At his (Shivakumar’s) house it was non-veg, while at my house it was veg. He is a vegetarian, I am a non-vegetarian. I had not prepared non-veg. I told DK to get chicken from the village as you won’t get the original in Bengaluru."

Shivakumar said he had initially invited Siddaramaiah to his residence, but the CM had suggested visiting his place first and reciprocating later. "It was a vegetarian breakfast at the CM’s house on Saturday," he noted.

"Today, I invited him (the CM) to my house. He enjoyed the breakfast, which had his Mysuru taste," Shivakumar added. At this point, Siddaramaiah remarked that Shivakumar’s wife is also from Mysuru.

Saturday’s breakfast at Siddaramaiah’s official residence, held as part of efforts by the Congress high command to ease tensions in the leadership dispute between the two, reportedly included idlis and sambar, according to official sources.

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News Network
November 29,2025

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New Delhi: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy CM DK Shivakumar on Saturday put up a dramatic display of unity at a closely watched joint press briefing, firmly dismissing weeks of speculation about a power-sharing tussle within the Congress. With the high command nudging both leaders to sit together and settle the dust, the meeting became a political spectacle, ending with the duo declaring that there was “no confusion, no differences.”

Calling the reports of a rift “manufactured confusion,” Siddaramaiah said the talks had gone smoothly, even joking about their breakfast. “Breakfast was very good. All three of us enjoyed it,” he said. “We want to end this confusion once and for all. For local elections and for 2028, our mission is clear — Congress must return to power. There is no difference between me and DKS, not now, not before.”

He blamed the media for fuelling rumours and reiterated absolute adherence to the party leadership. “From tomorrow, let there be no confusion. What the high command says, we will follow.”

Siddaramaiah also assured that the Assembly session starting December 8 would run smoothly and vowed that Congress would take on the BJP and JD(S) “together.”

Shivakumar echoed the chief minister word for word, stressing loyalty and discipline. “People have given us a massive mandate. It is our duty to deliver,” he said. “This government was formed under Siddaramaiah’s leadership. We both have complete trust in the high command. If they tell me to wait, I will wait.”

He added that the two leaders had discussed strategy for the 2028 Assembly elections. “Whatever the CM says, I agree. We are loyal soldiers of the party. The party may be facing challenges nationally, but we will keep it strong in Karnataka.”

Shivakumar also said Siddaramaiah would soon visit his home for lunch or dinner — another symbolic gesture meant to underline their unity.

Both leaders later posted on social media describing the breakfast meeting as “productive” and focused on “Karnataka’s priorities.”

The BJP, however, rejected the show of camaraderie as “pure bunkum,” accusing Congress of trying to paper over an internal power struggle. But Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar insisted their united front would continue — and that there was “no confusion” within the state leadership.

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News Network
November 21,2025

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An Indian Air Force (IAF) Tejas fighter jet crashed on Friday, November 21, afternoon during its aerial demonstration at the Dubai Air Show, plunging to the ground at around 2:10 pm local time while performing a manoeuvre before thousands of spectators.

The IAF confirmed the incident, stating that a Tejas aircraft participating in the show had crashed and that further details were being gathered. An Air Force spokesperson said more information would be shared after initial assessments.

The crash sent thick black smoke billowing into the sky near the airport, causing panic among visitors, including families and children who had gathered to watch the display. Authorities have not yet confirmed whether the pilot managed to eject before the aircraft went down. Emergency response teams rushed to the scene, and officials have not released information on casualties or damage so far.

The Tejas is a 4.5-generation, multi-role fighter aircraft developed indigenously by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Designed for versatility, it is capable of offensive air support, close combat, ground attack missions and maritime operations. The aircraft family includes single-seat fighters and twin-seat trainers for both the Air Force and Navy.

HAL describes the latest version, the LCA Mk1A, as the most advanced in the series, featuring an AESA radar, an upgraded electronic warfare suite with radar-warning and self-protection jamming, smart multifunction displays, a digital map generator, a combined interrogator–transponder system and a modern radio altimeter. These enhancements significantly improve the aircraft’s combat capability and survivability.

Further updates from IAF and UAE authorities are awaited.

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