Inside Shijaiya: AP Photos Reveal Devastation as Israeli Forces Say They Clear Hamas Infrastructure

Photos from Gaza’s shattered Shijaiya neighborhood

The few buildings still standing in this stretch of northern Gaza rise from the ground like broken bones. What was once a dense, urban neighborhood has been blown apart, toppled or ground down into dust and rubble.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military escorted an AP photographer and other journalists through a section on Gaza City’s eastern edge that it says was leveled to destroy Hamas infrastructure and bases. Photographers documented the cratered streets, collapsed buildings and scattered personal effects as part of AP’s ongoing coverage from the ground.

Satellite imagery shows this razing is part of a broader campaign: neighborhoods across northern Gaza, parts of Rafah in the south and areas near Khan Younis have been systematically flattened since January.

“What we need to do in these areas is we want to make sure it’s a terror-free zone, that Hamas does not return to this area,” military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani told visiting journalists. “An area cannot be rebuilt if it’s a terror infrastructure and you cannot rebuild an area if there’s a tunnel 100 meters deep beneath the house or beneath the rubble.”

During the roughly two-hour visit, reporters saw no civilians — only Israeli soldiers patrolling the shattered streets. One soldier wore a T-shirt printed with the slogan: "Hamas Hunting Club" above an image of a boot pressing on a militant’s skeleton, with the words "Happy Hunting."

The military said militants had recently attempted to position new weaponry in the area. AP photographers recorded the devastation and the emptied landscape as part of the agency's photo gallery documenting the conflict’s impact on Gaza’s urban fabric.

This gallery was curated by AP photo editors.