KEY POINTS
- Air strikes hit homes, schools and shelters, while civilians report having no safe refuge.
- UN chief Guterres called the situation “horrendous” and warned of famine, collapse of health care, and mass displacement.
- Gaza’s Health Ministry said 441 people, including 147 children, have died from malnutrition since the war began.
- Amnesty International accused the US of “greenlighting genocide” after its sixth veto of a Gaza ceasefire resolution at the UNSC.
GAZA CITY, Palestine: At least 51 people were killed in Gaza City on Saturday as Israel unleashed what Palestinian officials described as the “heaviest wave” of attacks since its military offensive began in October 2023.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said the latest casualties included six people killed in a drone strike on the Tuffah neighbourhood, according to Wafa news agency.
The ministry added that Israel’s war on Gaza has now killed at least 65,191 people and wounded 165,925 since October 2023, with thousands more believed to be buried under the rubble.
Among the dead were two children struck in an Israeli bombing on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City, medical staff at al-Shifa Hospital said.
Another air strike in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood killed eight people when a house near the Bank of Palestine was hit, Al Jazeera reported. In the Sabra neighbourhood, a drone attack killed one woman and wounded several others.
An Israeli air strike hit the home of Majed Abu Salmiya in the Shati refugee camp, killing him and several of his children, Al Jazeera reported. Majed was the brother of Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of the al-Shifa Medical Complex.
Israel’s bombardment has left civilians with no safe refuge. “The situation is really bad. All night long, the tank was firing shells,” said Toufic Abu Mouawad, a displaced Palestinian quoted by Reuters.
“I want to flee with the boys, the girls, the children. This is a very tragic situation. We call on all the Arab countries and the people who have a good conscience to stand with us.”
Unprecedented Scale of Suffering
The UN has warned of the unprecedented scale of suffering. “What we are witnessing in Gaza is horrendous,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told AFP, calling the crisis the worst destruction and death he had seen during his tenure.
Guterres described “famine, total lack of effective health care, people living without adequate shelters in huge concentration areas”.
The UN Chief also said the world must not be “intimidated” by Israeli threats, particularly over the recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN.
He stressed that even without international recognition, Israel’s actions in the West Bank would continue, adding that global pressure could still play a role in restraining them.
Malnutrition Deaths
Meanwhile, humanitarian needs continue to escalate. Gaza’s Health Ministry said four Palestinians, including a child, died from malnutrition in the past 24 hours, bringing the total hunger-related death toll to 441 since the war began. Of these, 147 were children. The UN has already declared famine in the Palestinian enclave.
Doctors describe desperate choices. “I remember this child, around nine years old, who came in after an attack. His bowel was out of his abdomen. We didn’t have an ICU,” said Dr Osama Hamid, a Jordan-based surgeon who previously volunteered in Gaza. “We had only two operating rooms and the decision was made. Just let him die in peace.”
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said that 90 percent of its facilities in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged by Israeli strikes, including more than 300 schools.
UNRWA spokesperson, Adnan Abu Hasna, said that 6,000 aid trucks were waiting for clearance to enter Gaza. “No family in Gaza can afford the cost of displacement again,” he warned.
Use of ‘Unprecedented Force’
The Israeli military has vowed to press ahead, declaring that it would use “unprecedented force” against Hamas in Gaza City.
Military spokesman Avichay Adraee said Salah al-Din Road had been closed for southbound travel, leaving Al-Rashid Street as the only evacuation route.
Gaza’s Civil Defence agency said 450,000 people had fled Gaza City since the Israeli assault began in August, while the military estimated the figure at 480,000 out of the city’s population of about one million.
Genocide Against Palestinians
International criticism is mounting. Amnesty International condemned the United States for vetoing a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, the sixth such veto since the war began.
Amnesty’s Secretary-General Agnes Callamard accused Washington of “greenlighting Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza” and warned that continued arms support risked complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The US has once again vetoed a UN Security Council draft resolution.
The resolution would have demanded an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the lifting of all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid and ensuring its safe distribution, and immediate… pic.twitter.com/h7PXwy7jmd
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) September 19, 2025
At the diplomatic level, Brazil has formally intervened in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, joining a growing list of states including Colombia, Mexico, Spain, Turkiye, and Ireland.
The ICJ has already issued provisional measures requiring Israel to prevent acts of genocide and ensure humanitarian access.
