Israeli infantry units and tanks pushed into Gaza City on Tuesday in one of the war’s largest ground operations as European leaders and United Nations envoys condemned an escalation and warned that civilian danger is rising.
Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said forces were advancing “toward the center” of the city after days of intensive aerial attacks as well as land and sea attacks.
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
Brigadier General Effie Defrin of the Israeli army said that Gaza City is the main base of Hamas’s military and governing power. “Hamas has made Gaza City the biggest human shield in history.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Monday from an IDF command center in Tel Aviv, explaining they desire to eliminate Hamas but also create more routes for civilians to flee war zones.
The offensive came with rapid condemnations overseas. Britain’s foreign secretary Yvette Cooper labeled the attack “utterly reckless and appalling,” contending it would increase the humanitarian costs and risk hostages remaining captive in Gaza. U.N. high commissioner for human rights Volker Türk called the campaign “totally and utterly unacceptable” and demanded that Israel stop the operation. French President Emmanuel Macron declared new attacks would do nothing to eliminate hopes for a two-state solution and reaffirmed intentions to accredit a Palestinian state later this month.
Israel claims Hamas militants are integrated throughout dense cities and even into high-rise condominiums. Military officers believe a few thousand militants are still present throughout Gaza City. Israeli hostage families called for restraint, asserting a broadened offensive might endanger efforts to retrieve their family members.
Inside the enclave, people mentioned overnight shells and fresh displacement from central areas to the south. Casualties continued to increase and hospitals were saturated withmedicine and supplies running low, said the Gaza health ministry. Those casualty tolls couldn’t be verified independently. Israel denies international accusations that its offensive is a genocide and maintains its forces struck Hamas command meetings, armory warehouses and tunnel bunkers as part of a bid to evacuate civilians from zones of fighting. Netanyahu explained that more corridors would be readied to facilitate faster evacuations.
It comes after a string of Israeli strikes against the city’s suburbs for weeks and is a fresh chapter in an ongoing bid to destroy Hamas’s remaining strongholds. An advance is either a breakthrough or an expansion of a grinding street battle largely contingent on an end to a hostage standoff as front lines move.
(With inputs from agencies)
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