The damage caused by Israel’s aerial offensive in Gaza has been well documented. But Israeli ground forces have also carried out a wave of controlled explosions that has drastically changed the landscape in recent months.
At least 33 controlled demolitions have destroyed hundreds of buildings — including mosques, schools and entire sections of residential neighborhoods — since November, a New York Times analysis of Israeli military footage, social media videos and satellite imagery shows.
In response to questions about the demolitions, a spokesperson for the Israeli military said that soldiers are “locating and destroying terror infrastructures embedded, among other things, inside buildings” in civilian areas — adding that sometimes entire neighborhoods act as “combat complexes” for Hamas fighters.
I’m not seeing a problem with the language. They’re contrasting what’s happening with bombing. Controlled doesn’t mean justified. In a way it’s worse. With bombings, the IDF could point to targeting errors or faulty intelligence as reasons for destroying homes with no Hamas presence, but with controlled demolitions we know for sure they’re choosing to destroy the buildings for other reasons.