Explosive robots demolish Gaza City areas as Israeli forces seal it off
By Al Jazeera, October 3, 2025The Israeli military is extensively using remote-controlled vehicles and explosive robots in densely populated urban areas of Gaza City.
Many people who lived in these neighbourhoods are now buried and missing in the piles of rubble. Large numbers of buildings have been completely destroyed, detonated without any prior warning.
The Israeli military uses the tactic of planting these explosives at night and in the morning these devices are detonated causing many casualties. People who have managed to escape have described the horror since it expanded its offensive last month.
The army is gradually moving into the heart of the city, forcing the vast majority of Palestinians to move towards the western area and the coastal road to the south. This road is now open only one way – to Gaza’s south. The journey is extremely dangerous and exhausting.
Over the past few weeks we’ve seen the destruction and demolition of high-rise residential towers. But now these remote-controlled explosives are destroying entire neighbourhoods.
These areas at one time represented a refuge for many forcibly displaced families. It has eroded to the point where that doesn’t exist anymore.
Elsewhere, three civilians were killed in a targeted strike on a civilian vehicle east of Khan Younis in Gaza’s south.
A drone attack on al-Mawasi, the Israeli-described “humanitarian safe zone” near Khan Younis, killed a girl and injured other people, reports the Wafa news agency.
Other air strikes and remote-operated explosives targeted homes across besieged Gaza City, including in the Nassr and Sabra neighbourhoods, it said.
Hamas political bureau member Mohammed Nazzal tells Al Jazeera the Palestinian group is discussing President Trump’s plan to stop Israel’s devastating war on Gaza and will soon announce its position on the proposal.
Political bureau member Mohammed Nazzal said Hamas, as representatives of the resistance, has a right to express its views “in a way that serves the interests” of the Palestinian people.
According to a deadline given by Trump, Hamas is expected to respond today to the plan announced to end the war, release the captives and govern Gaza.
“We are not dealing [with the plan] under the logic that time is a sword pointed at our neck,” Nazzal said.