KEY POINTS
- Israeli forces killed over 100 people in Gaza on Wednesday.
- Gaza Health Ministry says 65,062 killed and 165,697 wounded since October 2023.
- Residents report mass panic as Israeli tanks advance; 17 buildings and a mosque destroyed.
- Nearly one million people remain trapped in Gaza City despite Israeli evacuation warnings.
- Around 190,000 fled Gaza City recently, but 15,000 returned due to dire shelter conditions.
- UN warns food and fuel in northern Gaza could run out within days after Zikim crossing closure.
- UN inquiry labels Israel’s war as “genocide”; Guterres calls actions “morally and legally intolerable”.
GAZA CITY, Palestine: Israeli forces pushed deeper into Gaza City on Wednesday, unleashing air and ground attacks that killed more than 100 people since dawn, as the Palestinian death toll from nearly two years of war surpassed 65,000, the besieged Palestinian territory’s health authorities said.
The Health Ministry in Gaza said at least 65,062 people have been killed and 165,697 wounded since Israel launched its offensive in October 2023. It reported that seven aid seekers were among the latest fatalities.
At least 2,504 people have been killed in Gaza at food distribution sites since May, when the Gaza Humanitarian Facility (GHF) was established, the health ministry said. The ministry also confirmed that famine-related deaths have risen to 432, including 146 children.
Ground Assault on Gaza City
Residents, cited by Al Jazeera, described scenes of panic as Israeli tanks and troops advanced into neighbourhoods, with convoys of vans, donkey carts, and families on foot fleeing through streets filled with smoke and rubble.
Meanwhile, witnesses, cited by AFP, said that at least 17 residential buildings and the Aybaki Mosque in the Tuffah district were destroyed by Israeli bombing.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on X that “Gaza is burning”. Rights groups accused Israel of deploying explosive-laden robots to clear urban areas, flattening entire blocks. The Israeli military has admitted the operation could last “several months”.
עזה בוערת. צה"ל מכה באגרוף פלדה בתשתיות הטרור וחיילי צה"ל נלחמים בגבורה ליצירת התנאים לשחרור החטופים ולהכרעת החמאס. לא נרפה ולא נשוב לאחור – עד להשלמת המשימה.
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) September 16, 2025
Medical officials, cited by Al Jazeera, said the dead included civilians attempting to flee along the coastal al-Rashid Street. Nearly one million people remain trapped in Gaza City, many displaced from elsewhere, despite Israel’s warning civilians to move south.
Mass Displacement and Humanitarian Crisis
The Palestinian enclave’s Government Media Office said around 190,000 people have fled Gaza City in recent days, though some 15,000 have reportedly returned after struggling with dire conditions in makeshift shelters further south.
The overcrowded al-Mawasi camp near Rafah, itself repeatedly bombed by the Israeli military, has become the main refuge.
The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) warned that food and fuel stocks in northern Gaza could run out within days, after Israel shut the Zikim crossing on 12 September.
“There are now no direct aid entry points into northern Gaza, and resupply from south to north is increasingly challenging,” OCHA said in a statement.
A global hunger monitor last month declared Gaza officially in famine. The Health Ministry said 154 deaths from malnutrition have been recorded since the famine announcement, including 31 children.
UN Labels War ‘Genocide’
On Tuesday, the UN Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel’s campaign in Gaza constitutes genocide, citing official Israeli statements as evidence of intent to destroy Palestinians as a people.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Israel’s actions as “morally, politically and legally intolerable”.
Palestine’s Foreign Ministry warned of a looming “humanitarian catastrophe”. Irish President Michael D. Higgins called for Israel’s expulsion from the UN and for the suspension of trade ties.
Global Condemnation
International outrage intensified as Israel’s assault escalated. France called the campaign “destructive” and “lacking any military logic”, demanding an immediate halt to bombardments and the unhindered delivery of aid.
Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the offensive would “make an already desperate situation even worse” and confirmed Brussels is preparing new pressure measures.
Germany warned Israel’s escalation “will not lead to peace” and expressed growing scepticism about continued military operations.
China said it “firmly opposes” Israel’s ground assault on Gaza City. Meanwhile, Qatar denounced the assault as “an extension of the war of genocide against the Palestinian people”.
Saudi Arabia condemned “in the strongest terms” the ground offensive and criticised international inaction.
Meanwhile, Pope Leo XIV expressed “deep solidarity” with Palestinians, urging a ceasefire, hostage releases, and renewed diplomacy.
The European Commission meanwhile, proposed suspending parts of its trade agreement with Israel, citing violations of human rights commitments, though the plan faces resistance within the bloc.
Israeli Objective Questioned
Israeli political scientist Menachem Klein, cited by Al Jazeera, said that the military campaign was designed not to recover hostages but to make Gaza “unliveable” and push Palestinians out permanently. “About 70 percent of the Strip was already destroyed systematically, not by accident,” he said.
Senior Hamas official Abdul Rahman Shadid accused Israel of using administrative detention in the occupied West Bank as a tool of collective punishment.
He said 3,577 Palestinians are held without trial, facing “torture, starvation, deprivation, and medical neglect”.
‘Exponential Fear’
Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli forces demolished 40 homes in the Bedouin village of al-Sir in the Negev, firing sound and smoke bombs at residents. In Gaza City, air raids struck the Shati refugee camp, killing a mother and her child.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said Gazans were experiencing “exponential fear” under relentless bombardment.
“Supplies are desperately needed. The siege must be lifted,” UNRWA said on X.
It has been nearly 7 months since UNRWA aid was allowed into #Gaza.
UNRWA has a committed team of 11,000 on the ground. They are providing healthcare, water, sanitation, psychosocial support and learning.
But supplies are desperately needed. The siege must be lifted.
Let us do… pic.twitter.com/xISWWa2Lt1
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) September 17, 2025
Meanwhile, Israeli officials insist the offensive will continue until Gaza City is fully captured. The Israeli army has acknowledged that the battle could drag on for months, even as international agencies warn of famine, disease, and an unprecedented humanitarian disaster.
