Israeli troops pushed deeper into Gaza City on September 17, 2025, as a new ground offensive intensified, forcing thousands of Palestinians to flee their homes amid widespread destruction, communications blackouts, and an ever-climbing death toll. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, the number of Palestinians killed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war has now surpassed 65,000, with at least 165,697 wounded, as reported by both Associated Press and BBC News.
The Israeli military said its air force and artillery units struck more than 150 targets across Gaza City in recent days to pave the way for ground troops. The strikes toppled high-rise towers in areas crowded with tent camps, which, according to Israel, were being used by Hamas militants to observe troop movements. The scale of the bombardment and ground incursion has drawn sharp condemnation from aid organizations and international bodies, who warn of an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
This latest offensive, which Israel describes as an effort to free hostages and defeat what it calls Hamas’s "last stronghold" of up to 3,000 fighters, comes nearly a year after the war began. On October 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people—mostly civilians—and abducting 251 others. As of September 2025, 48 hostages remain in Gaza, with fewer than half believed to be alive, according to AP and BBC.
In the chaos of the renewed fighting, Palestinians streamed out of Gaza City—some by car, others on foot, and many using donkey carts, rickshaws, or vehicles loaded with their remaining belongings. The Israeli military opened a second evacuation route on the central Salah al-Din road for 48 hours, starting at noon on September 17, to allow more people to escape south. However, the journey south is fraught with obstacles. Many Palestinians say the cost of renting a small truck has soared to about $900, while a tent for five people sells for roughly $1,200, according to BBC News. The designated "humanitarian area" in al-Mawasi is already overcrowded and unable to support the roughly two million Palestinians expected to relocate there. Some evacuees, finding no space to pitch their tents, have even returned north.
Munir Azzam, a resident in northern Gaza, told BBC, “Everyday leaflets are thrown at us ordering evacuation, while the Israeli army shells buildings in every direction. But where can we go? We have no refuge in the South.”
Phone and internet services were cut off on September 17, hindering the ability of Palestinians to call for help, coordinate evacuations, or share details of the ongoing offensive. The Palestinian Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said Israeli strikes on main network lines in northern Gaza were responsible for the blackout. The Israeli military stated it was reviewing the incident and denied deliberately targeting public communication networks.
Overnight strikes killed at least 16 people, including women and children, hospital officials reported. In one incident, a child and his mother died in the Shati refugee camp, while three—including a pregnant woman—were killed in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Another family—a child and both parents—were killed when a strike hit their tent in the Muwasi area, according to officials from Shifa and Nasser hospitals.
The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate. The UN declared famine in Gaza City in late August 2025, and aid groups say the crisis is deepening. Gaza’s health ministry reported that 98 people were killed and 385 injured by Israeli fire in the 24 hours before September 17, with four additional deaths from malnutrition, raising the total famine-related deaths to 154 since the famine was declared. The BBC noted that the only specialist hospital for children with cancer, kidney failure, and other life-threatening conditions—al-Rantisi children’s hospital—was targeted in three Israeli attacks on the night of September 16. While there were no injuries, extensive damage to air conditioning units, water tanks, and solar panels forced half of the hospital’s 80 patients to evacuate.
“This hospital is the only specialist facility for children with cancer, kidney failure, and other life-threatening conditions,” said Fikr Shalltoot, Gaza director for Medical Aid for Palestinians, as quoted by BBC News. “This attack has once again shattered the illusion that hospitals or any place in Gaza are safe from Israel’s genocide.” The Israeli military said it was looking into the strikes and reiterated its claim that Hamas uses civilian infrastructure for military purposes.
International reaction has been swift and severe. A coalition of more than 20 aid agencies—including Save the Children, Oxfam, and the Norwegian Refugee Council—issued a statement urging the international community to take stronger measures to stop what they described as genocide in Gaza. “What we are witnessing in Gaza is not only an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, but what the U.N. Commission of Inquiry has now concluded is a genocide,” the statement read. The U.N. commission’s report alleged that Israeli security forces had perpetrated sexual and gender-based violence, targeted children with the intention to kill, and carried out a "systemic and widespread attack" on religious, cultural, and educational sites. Israel categorically rejected the report, calling it “distorted and false.”
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Israel’s ground offensive, saying it marked an “extension of the war of genocide” against Palestinians. Pope Leo XIV also weighed in, saying, “I am deeply close to the Palestinian people of Gaza, who continue to live in fear and under unacceptable conditions, forced yet again to leave their land.” The European Commission, meanwhile, proposed sanctions against Israel over its conduct during the war and its decision to advance the E1 settlement project, which would divide the occupied West Bank. These proposals include suspending some trade provisions and imposing sanctions on extremist ministers and violent settlers, but currently lack enough support among EU member states to pass.
Inside Israel, the offensive has sparked debate and protest. Families of the 48 remaining hostages protested near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence, fearing that the military operation would endanger their loved ones. “All day long, you boast about killing and destruction,” said Macabit Mayer, aunt of hostages Gali and Ziv Berman. “Bringing down buildings in Gaza—who are you bringing these buildings down on?”
On the political front, Israel’s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich described Gaza as a “real estate bonanza” and discussed plans for post-war redevelopment, including a “business plan” submitted to former U.S. President Donald Trump. “We paid a lot of money for this war, so we need to divide how we make a percentage on the land marketing later in Gaza,” Smotrich said at a Tel Aviv conference, according to AP. He advocated for the continued war until Hamas is eradicated, the relocation of much of Gaza’s population, and the rebuilding of Jewish settlements dismantled in 2005. Trump himself has previously described his vision for Gaza as turning the region into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
As Israeli forces press their campaign and the humanitarian crisis deepens, the fate of Gaza’s civilians hangs in the balance, with the world watching and waiting for a breakthrough that remains elusive.
