Israel has heavily bombed Gaza City overnight with unconfirmed reports from the US news site Axios and the Jerusalem Post that the military has now launched its ground offensive to occupy the entire city.
Israeli strikes are also reported in central Gaza, in the direction in which thousands of people are fleeing. Palestinian officials say there are rising numbers of deaths and injuries.
The intensification came ahead of a long-threatened full-scale ground invasion of the city, which is home to hundreds of thousands of people.
It came hours after Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of unwavering US support during a trip to Jerusalem on Monday.
Early on Tuesday morning, Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, wrote on X, “Gaza is burning” and threatened that Israel, “will not relent and we will not go back – until the completion of the mission.”
Local journalists in Gaza say there have been almost constant Israeli air strikes and artillery and gunfire in Gaza City. Homes are said to have been destroyed, with people trapped in the rubble. There has been no official confirmation of a new ground incursion from the Israeli military.
Palestinians examine the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli strike in Gaza City Monday, September 15, 2025
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio showed unwavering support for Israel today after meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, despite growing international anger over Israel’s air strikes on Hamas leaders in Qatar and its intensifying bombardment of Gaza City.
As the leaders of Arab and Muslim states met in the Qatari capital Doha to condemn last week’s attack on a Hamas leadership meeting there, Mr Rubio and Mr Netanyahu stood shoulder to shoulder and downplayed the outcry over the strike, even though US President Donald Trump had made clear his displeasure at Israel’s action.
The State Department said that Mr Rubio would travel to Qatar on Tuesday for a brief visit, as the US administration appears keen to ease tensions between its two close allies, before flying on to London to join Mr Trump on his state visit to Britain.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Vote Labour for Genocide.
Smoke rises from an explosion, after an Israeli strike, in Doha, Qatar, September 9, 2025. Photo: UGC via AP
QATAR’S Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani is demanding a “collective response” to Israel’s deadly attack on the Qatari capital Doha.
Sheikh Mohammed told US news channel CNN on Wednesday that “there is a response that will happen from the region. This response is currently under consultation and discussion with other partners in the region, adding that “the entire Gulf region is at risk.”
He accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of leading the region into “chaos” and hoped the response from Arab nations would be “something meaningful that deters Israel from continuing this bullying.”
The Qataris plan to host an Arab-Islamic summit on Sunday and Monday, the country’s QNA news agency reported.
Sheikh Mohammed also said that the Israeli strike was aimed at undermining “any chance of peace” in Gaza.
He said: “I think that what [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu did yesterday — he just killed any hope for those [Israeli] hostages.” Twenty captives are believed to be still alive in Gaza.
Even as there was widespread international condemnation of the attack on Doha, the Israeli prime minister threatened further attacks, saying that “Qatar and all nations who harbour terrorists, you either expel them or you bring them to justice. Because if you don’t, we will.”
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Vote Labour for Genocide.
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Smoke and dust rise from Mushtaha Tower, located west of Gaza City, after being hit by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza Strip on September 05, 2025. [Saeed M. M. T. Jaras – Anadolu Agency]
The Palestinian resistance group Hamas marked 700 days of Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza on Friday, calling it a “stain on humanity” and urging the international community to take decisive action against the ongoing atrocities, Anadolu reports.
In a statement, Hamas highlighted its efforts to reach a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange agreement, stressing that it had “shown significant flexibility” in negotiations.
The movement blamed the repeated failure of mediators on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and called him “a war criminal committed to undermining diplomatic initiatives, pursuing indefinite plans of extermination and displacement, and placing the lives of captives at risk to serve his government’s agenda.”
Hamas renewed its call to the international community, including Arab and Islamic countries, the UN, and its organs, particularly the UN Security Council, to “fulfill their responsibilities toward the Palestinian people and intervene to halt the crimes of the fascist occupation government.”
The movement emphasized the need for “punitive measures against Israel,” warning that “mere condemnations are insufficient” and that, without substantial consequences, Israel would “continue its crimes without regard for international protests or positions.”
Hamas also praised global grassroots solidarity with the Palestinian people and welcomed the launch of the Global Sumud Flotilla, an initiative to break the blockade on Gaza.
The ongoing war in Gaza has entered its 700th day on Friday, with Israel having killed more than 64,200 Palestinians. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAUK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
An image of Israeli hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal is displayed on a large screen in the plaza outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, on August 9, 2025. [Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images]
Palestinian resistance group Hamas released on Friday a video showing Israeli hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal and another captive moving through the rubble of destroyed homes in Gaza City, which faces intense Israeli military offensives, Anadolu reports.
“We thought we were prisoners of Hamas, but the truth is that we are prisoners of our own government. We want this to end and to return to our families,” said Gilboa-Dalal in the video.
He said he remains in Gaza despite the Israeli offensive and blamed the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the risk to his life.
“I am terrified of the Israeli army attacking Gaza City. This means we will die here,” he said.
Gilboa-Dalal also accused Israeli leaders of lying and neglecting the welfare of soldiers and hostages.
“[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir, and [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich lie all the time. They do not want us to return,” he said.
The hostage further called on Israeli citizens to “demonstrate strongly, create chaos, and make problems for the government to release us and stop the war.”
The video also shows Gilboa-Dalal meeting another captive, whose identity was not disclosed.
Hamas has previously released proof-of-life footage to confirm the condition of hostages, highlighting concerns over their safety in Gaza amid ongoing hostilities.
On Aug. 18, the Palestinian resistance group Hamas accepted a ceasefire proposal put forward by Egyptian and Qatari mediators. While Israel has not responded to the proposal, Netanyahu gave orders to proceed with a plan to occupy Gaza City.
Tel Aviv estimates that nearly 50 Israeli hostages are still held in Gaza, including 20 alive.
Meanwhile, more than 10,400 Palestinians are being held in Israeli prisons, suffering from torture, starvation, and medical neglect, which has resulted in many deaths, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.
Israel has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAUK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
Palestinians examine the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli strike in Gaza City Monday, September 15, 2025
![An image of Israeli hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal is displayed on a large screen in the plaza outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, on August 9, 2025. [Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/GettyImages-2228546981-1.jpg?fit=920%2C613&ssl=1)