(CNN) — The Israeli military struck multiple high-rise buildings in Gaza City on Sunday, after warning people to leave several neighborhoods, in the latest round of destruction since Israel ordered a complete evacuation of the city.

Israel’s assault on Gaza City appeared to be accelerating, with the military issuing evacuation orders for several towers in Gaza City within just a few hours Sunday morning.

The strikes come ahead of a meeting called by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss efforts to avoid harming the hostages still held in Gaza when the Israeli military undertakes a ground operation planned to take control of Gaza City, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The meeting on Thursday w?ill be attended by the Israeli foreign and defense ministers as well as the leadership of the Israeli military and security services, the source said. There are thought to be about 20 hostages still alive in the enclave, some of whom are believed to be in Gaza City.

Two Israeli officials told CNN on Sunday that the Israeli military ground operation into Gaza City is set to start in the coming days.

“It’s getting very close,” one of the officials said, while the second said it could begin as soon as Monday.

At least 10 United Nations buildings have been hit in Gaza City in the past 4 days, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Commissioner-General said in a statement Sunday.

“No place is safe in Gaza” and “no one is safe” following the “intensifying” Israeli airstrikes in the city and north of Gaza, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said.

The 10 buildings include seven schools and two clinics “used as shelters for thousands of displaced people,” Lazzarini added.

Al Kawthar – an 11-story building near Gaza’s port – was hit Sunday, one of several high-rises that have been destroyed or severely damaged by Israeli strikes since the IDF extended operations into Gaza City earlier this month and ordered nearly a million people in the area to head south.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was being used by Hamas to observe the movements of Israeli troops in the area. It said that before the strike, “steps were taken in order to mitigate harm to civilians, including advanced warnings to the population, the use of precise munitions (and) aerial surveillance.”

Hours later, after another warning was posted on X by the Israeli military, a multi-story building in Gaza City was struck but not demolished. The high-rise, known as al Mohna Tower, is in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood.

Another building at the Islamic University in Gaza was struck and destroyed by several missiles, according to images and video from the scene. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz posted a video of the strikes targeting the six-story building on X, saying: “The ‘Islamic’ University in Gaza is going up in smoke. Eliminating the sources of incitement and terrorism.”

More than 130 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since Saturday, according to numbers provided by hospital officials.

At least six Palestinians, including three children, were killed in an Israeli strike west of Gaza City early Monday, where displaced Palestinians are sheltering, according to health officials. A separate airstrike targeting a home in Gaza city killed two children, they added.

Al Shati camp in Gaza City was also targeted late Saturday, as Israeli strikes intensified. Videos of the aftermath show a large fire had broken out in an area where people were sheltering.

More than 50,000 Palestinians have been left homeless after the Israeli military intensified its action in the city over the past week, the Gaza Civil Defense said in a statement on Thursday. Israeli forces have destroyed more than 130 residential buildings in the enclave’s largest city over the same period, according to Civil Defense.

CNN has recorded the destruction of at least a dozen high-rise buildings in central Gaza since September 5.

The Palestinian health ministry said Sunday that 64,871 people had been killed in Gaza since Israeli military operations began after Hamas’ attack on Israel in October 2023 – and 164,610 had been injured.

Israel’s escalating assault on Gaza City came as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in the country for discussions about the war and the hostages. On Sunday, he visited the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem with Netanyahu and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.

Rubio is scheduled to officially meet Netanyahu on Monday. The Israeli leader is expected to raise his government’s potential West Bank annexation plans with Rubio, according to three Israeli sources.

Also on Monday, the leaders of several Arab and Islamic countries are expected to attend an emergency summit in Doha as a show of support to Qatar, after Israel conducted a strike on its capital city earlier this week.

Rubio will visit Doha on Tuesday following his visit to Israel, a diplomat with knowledge of the visit told CNN.

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said Sunday that the Israeli strikes will “not deter” it from continuing “sincere efforts” to mediate an end to the war in Gaza.

“The barbaric and demagogic practices of Israel will not deter us from continuing to make sincere efforts with Egypt and the United States to stop this unjust war,” Al Thani said.

The-CNN-Wire
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