Report: IDF Destroyed Over 1,500 Buildings in IDF-controlled Parts of Gaza Since Cease-fire Took Effect

An analysis by BBC Verify shows neighborhoods behind the Yellow Line have been destroyed by IDF forces, in an act some say may constitute a violation of the Trump-led cease-fire between Israel and Hamas

Haaretz - A satellite image of IDF construction work east of Gaza City, earlier this month. Credit: PLANET LABS PBC/Reuters

Israel has destroyed over 1,500 buildings in areas of the Gaza Strip controlled by Israel since the cease-fire with Hamas took effect, according to a report by the BBC.

The report, based on satellite images dating up to November 8 of this year, shows entire neighborhoods that have been demolished since October 10, when IDF forces pulled back to the Yellow Line.

The number of destroyed buildings could be significantly higher than 1,500, according to BBC Verify, which said that some areas under IDF control could not be readily surveyed.

According to the analysis carried out by the BBC, many buildings that were destroyed since the cease-fire took effect seemed to be undamaged before the cease-fire.

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One such area cited by the report was eastern Khan Yunis, in the city of Abasan al-Kabira, where satellite images from October 2023 up until the cease-fire showed upright buildings with little to no damage, which have since been razed.

Another example given by the BBC is al-Bayuk, east of Rafah. According to the report, several buildings that appeared to be undamaged before the cease-fire in satellite imagery taken in October 2025 appear to have since been destroyed.

Similar comparisons could be seen in Gaza City, the Shujaiyeh neighborhood, and near the Indonesian Hospital on the outskirts of Jabalya.

According to the 20-point plan set forth by U.S. President Donald Trump, facilitating a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, the IDF was supposed to halt all strikes on the Gaza Strip, rendering the alleged destruction of buildings a possible violation of the conditions set in the plan.

Point 13 of Trump's plan states that "military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon production facilities, will be destroyed and not rebuilt," but also states that the demilitarization process will be "under the supervision of independent monitors."

A spokesperson for the IDF said in its response to the BBC that per the agreement, "all terror infrastructure, including tunnels, is to be dismantled throughout Gaza."

Eitan Shamir, ex-head of the National Security Doctrine Department in Israel's strategic affairs ministry, told the BBC that top officials within the IDF believe that "Hamas is allowed to do what it wants in the territory it controls, and Israel is allowed to do what it wants in the territory it controls."

According to Shamir, IDF officials believe Hamas is unlikely to go forward with the second phase of the agreement, leading Israel to prepare the territory for the next round of combat.