KEY POINTS
- Israel warns of a “mighty hurricane” of strikes on Gaza unless Hamas surrenders.
- Defence Minister Israel Katz warns complete destruction of Gaza.
- Israeli military bombs and destroyed a 12-storey residential building in Gaza City.
- Hamas says it is reviewing latest US ceasefire proposal from President Trump.
- At least 40 Palestinians, including journalist, killed on Monday.
- Gaza death toll surpasses 64,500; nearly 250 journalists killed in the conflict.
- Health ministry reports rising deaths from starvation, with 393 people dead so far.
GAZA CITY, Palestine: Israel said on Monday it would step up airstrikes on Gaza on Monday in a “mighty hurricane”, to serve as a last warning to Hamas that it will destroy the Palestinian territory unless the group accepts a demand to free all hostages and surrender.
Residents said Israeli forces had bombed Gaza City from the air and blown up old armoured vehicles in its streets.
Hamas said it was studying the latest US ceasefire proposal, delivered on Sunday, with a warning from President Donald Trump that it was the Palestinian group’s “last chance”.
“A mighty hurricane will hit the skies of Gaza City today, and the roofs of the terror towers will shake,” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X.
“This is a final warning to Hamas in Gaza and in the luxury hotels abroad: Release the hostages and lay down your weapons – or Gaza will be destroyed, and you will be annihilated.”
היום תכה סופת הוריקן אדירה בשמי העיר עזה וגגות מגדלי הטרור ירעדו.
זאת אזהרה אחרונה למרצחי ואנסי החמאס בעזה ובמלונות הפאר בחו"ל: שחררו את החטופים והניחו את הנשק – או שעזה תיהרס ואתם תושמדו.
צה"ל ממשיך כמתוכנן – ונערך להרחבת התמרון להכרעת עזה.
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) September 8, 2025
Katz’s post appeared before reports of a shooting at a bus stop in Jerusalem that killed six people, including one Spanish citizen.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) bombed a 12-floor block in the middle of Gaza City where dozens of displaced Palestinian families had been housed, three hours after urging those inside and in hundreds of tents in the surrounding area to leave.
In a statement, the IDF said Hamas, who had “planted intelligence gathering means” and explosive devices, had been operating near the building and “have used it throughout the war to plan and advance terror attacks against IDF forces”.
According to a senior Israeli official, the latest US proposal calls for Hamas to return all 48 remaining living and dead hostages on the first day of a ceasefire, during which negotiations would be held to end the relentless bombardment campaign.
Hamas has long said it intends to hold onto at least some hostages until negotiations are complete. It said in a statement that it was committed to releasing them all with a “clear announcement of an end to the war” and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Israel’s Offensive in Gaza City
Israel launched a major assault last month on Gaza City, where hundreds of thousands of residents are living in the ruins, having returned after the city experienced the most intense bombardments early weeks nearly two years ago.
Residents said Israeli forces pounded several districts from the air and ground, and detonated decommissioned armoured vehicles laden with explosives, destroying clusters of homes in the Sheikh Radwan, Zeitoun and Tuffah neighbourhoods, Reuters news agency reported on Monday.
Among at least 25 Palestinians reported killed in Gaza on Monday was Osama Balousha, a journalist for Palestinian media, medics said.
Fifteen other people were killed in separate Israeli strikes and gunfire across the Palestinian enclave, medics said, taking Monday’s death toll to at least 40.
Nearly 250 journalists have been killed in Gaza during the war, according to Palestinian authorities, making it by far the world’s deadliest war for news media in living memory.
Israel bars all foreign reporters from Gaza, so all journalists killed there have been Palestinians. Palestinian officials say Israel has deliberately targeted journalists, which Israel denies.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump suggested a deal could come soon to secure the release of all the hostages held by Hamas. An Israeli official said Israel was “seriously considering” Trump’s proposal but did not elaborate.
Deaths and starvation
Since October 2023, Israel has launched a relentless bombardment campaign on Gaza more than 64,500 Palestinians, according to the health ministry, and reducing much of the Gaza Strip to rubble and causing a humanitarian catastrophe.
Six more Palestinians, including two children, died of malnutrition and starvation in the space of 24 hours, the territory’s health ministry said on Monday, raising deaths from such causes to at least 393 people, most in the past two months.
Israel, which controls all supplies into Gaza, says the extent of hunger there has been exaggerated and the reported deaths are due to other causes.
Throughout the conflict, efforts to negotiate an end to the war have faltered over Israel’s insistence that Hamas free all hostages and surrender. Hamas says it will not lay down its arms until Palestinians have an independent state.
