Build & Destroy

An Israeli air attack struck an apartment in Gaza City, killing at least five people, according to Al Jazeera reporting. The strike adds to the mounting civilian death toll in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict, with residents and rescue teams responding to the destroyed residential building.

Russian media report a large-scale overnight drone attack across multiple regions on September 30, 2026. Air defence forces claim 646 Ukrainian drones were shot down, including over Ulyanovsk region. In Kaluga, apartment buildings were damaged in a drone attack, with people reported injured. Alerts were also issued in Krasnodar region, and a drone was destroyed approaching Penza.

Commentators are pushing back against imagery that reduces Gaza to destroyed buildings, arguing the city was home to families, schools, hospitals, and dreams now buried under rubble. Writers stress that behind every ruined building stands someone who lost a home, urging the world to see Gaza's residents as people with histories rather than symbols of devastation.

Images and reports continue to circulate showing residential buildings in Gaza destroyed during the war between Israel and Hamas. The destruction of housing across the territory remains one of the most visible consequences of the conflict, with large parts of Gaza reduced to rubble and displaced residents facing a severe humanitarian situation as reconstruction remains distant.

A headline carried by Foreign Policy asserts that current events amount to 'development in reverse' — a reversal of decades of economic and social progress. The phrase frames present-day destruction or regression as undoing hard-won gains rather than building on them. The statement is drawing attention amid ongoing debates about conflict and its cost to development, particularly in the Middle East.

A fire has destroyed the historic Miller Mansion in St. Petersburg, a landmark building known for its architectural and local heritage. News of the blaze spread quickly, with many residents expressing shock and sadness over the loss of a piece of the city's history. Details about the cause of the fire, injuries, or plans for the site have not yet been confirmed.

A large fire has engulfed the historic Miller Mansion near St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, destroying one of the area's notable heritage buildings. Reports describe flames spreading through the mansion, with emergency crews responding at the scene. People are sharing images and discussing the loss of the landmark building and the fate of nearby structures.

Dobropillia, a city in Ukraine's Donetsk region, has suffered heavy damage from Russian attacks, with residential buildings destroyed and residents left living among the ruins. Reports describe the city as another urban centre effectively held hostage by the war, joining a list of eastern Ukrainian communities devastated by ongoing shelling and strikes.

The bodies of 105 Palestinians have been buried in Gaza City after their remains were recovered from beneath the rubble of destroyed buildings. The burials highlight the ongoing recovery efforts in the territory, where crews continue to find victims of the war months after strikes destroyed residential areas. Families gathered to identify and bury relatives as the humanitarian toll of the conflict continues to mount.

Google Earth has refreshed its satellite imagery of Gaza for the first time since 2024, revealing that around 80% of the territory's buildings have been destroyed and much of the population reduced to survival conditions. Commentary describes the situation as an annihilation carried out in full view of the world, with the images renewing debate over the scale of devastation.