{"id":73,"date":"2025-09-16T12:47:32","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T12:47:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ytblitz.com\/events\/?p=73"},"modified":"2025-09-16T12:47:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T12:47:32","slug":"israels-military-begins-its-ground-offensive-in-gaza-city-and-warns-residents-to-leave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ytblitz.com\/events\/israels-military-begins-its-ground-offensive-in-gaza-city-and-warns-residents-to-leave\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel\u2019s military begins its ground offensive in Gaza City and warns residents to leave"},"content":{"rendered":"

JERUSALEM (AP) \u2014 The Israeli military began its\u00a0ground offensive in Gaza City<\/a><\/span>\u00a0on Tuesday, slowly closing in on the Palestinian territory\u2019s largest city, where block after block has already been destroyed in the Israel-Hamas war. Thousands of people streamed out in vehicles laden with their belongings, but hundreds of thousands more remain.<\/p>\n

The operation marks yet another escalation in a\u00a0conflict that has roiled the Middle East<\/a><\/span>\u00a0for nearly two years and likely pushes any ceasefire farther out of reach. The military wouldn\u2019t offer a timeline for the offensive, which it says aims to \u201cdestroy Hamas\u2019 military infrastructure,\u201d but Israeli media suggested it could take months.<\/p>\n

It began the same day that independent experts commissioned by the United Nations\u2019 Human Rights Council accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel fiercely rejected the allegation, calling the experts\u2019 report \u201cdistorted and false.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared that \u201cGaza is burning\u201d as the operation began, and heavy bombardment battered the city overnight and into the morning.<\/p>\n

Long lines of cars and trucks strapped with mattresses and other belongings stretched down Gaza\u2019s coastal road, as people fled the city. Some crowded on top of vehicles, while others made their way on foot.<\/p>\n

On a brief visit to the region, U.S. Secretary of State\u00a0Marco Rubio<\/a><\/span>\u00a0warned that there was a \u201cvery short window of time in which a deal can happen\u201d to end the war.<\/p>\n

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Intensity of strikes in Gaza City grows<\/h2>\n

An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with military guidelines, said that the \u201cmain phase\u201d of the Gaza City operation had begun, with troops moving in from the city\u2019s outskirts toward its center. Airstrikes have pounded Gaza City for some time in the leadup to the operation, knocking down towers in the city.<\/p>\n

The official said the Israeli military believes there are approximately 2,000 to 3,000 Hamas militants left in Gaza City, as well as tunnels used by the militant group. Hamas\u2019 military capabilities have been vastly diminished over nearly two years of war, and nowadays it mainly carries out\u00a0guerrilla-style attacks<\/a><\/span>, with small groups of fighters planting explosives or attacking military outposts before melting away.<\/p>\n

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An estimated 1 million Palestinians were living in the Gaza City region before warnings to evacuate began ahead of the offensive, and the Israeli military estimates 350,000 people have left the city.<\/p>\n

A U.N. estimate on Monday, however, said that over 220,000 Palestinians have fled northern Gaza over the past month.<\/p>\n

By the end of the current operation, an Israeli military graphic suggested its troops hope to control all of the Gaza Strip except for a large swath along the coast.<\/p>\n

At least 34 Palestinians killed in Gaza City<\/h2>\n
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Palestinian residents reported heavy strikes across Gaza City on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

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Displaced Palestinians flee northern Gaza by foot and in vehicles, carrying their belongings along the coastal road toward southern Gaza, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (AP Photo\/Abdel Kareem Hana)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>
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By noon, the city\u2019s Shifa Hospital had received the bodies of 34 people killed in the strikes, said Dr. Rami Mhanna, a hospital official. Dozens of wounded had also come into the facility, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA very tough night in Gaza,\u201d Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, the hospital\u2019s director, told The Associated Press. \u201cThe bombing did not stop for a single moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several women gathered at the hospital\u2019s morgue, where AP footage showed many dead in body bags.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow long will we remain like this? We\u2019ve had enough,\u201d said one of the woman, who identified herself as Um Ahmed Zaqout. \u201cThrow us into any country. Enough of this torture here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the deadly strikes but in the past has accused Hamas of building military infrastructure inside civilian areas, especially in Gaza City.<\/p>\n

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Forty-eight hostages, fewer than half believed to be alive, remain in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry, which doesn\u2019t say how many were civilians or combatants. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, says women and children make up around half the dead.<\/p>\n

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Families of hostages beg Netanyahu to halt the operation<\/h2>\n

Overnight, families of the hostages still being held in Gaza gathered outside of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s residence, pleading with him to stop the Gaza City operation.<\/p>\n

Some pitched tents and slept outside his home in protest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have one interest \u2014 for this country to wake up and bring back my child along with 47 other hostages, both living and deceased, and to bring our soldiers home,\u201d Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is being held in Gaza, shouted outside Netanyahu\u2019s residence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he stops at nothing and sends our precious, brave, heroic soldiers to fight while our hostages are being used as human shields \u2014 he is not a worthy prime minister,\u201d Zangauker.<\/p>\n

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Israel believes around 20 of the hostages, including Matan, are alive. Hamas has said it will only free remaining hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.<\/p>\n

On a visit to Israel, Rubio suggested that there might still be time for a negotiated end the war.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt some point, this has to end. At some point, Hamas has to be defanged, and we hope it can happen through a negotiation,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I think time, unfortunately, is running out.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued to on to Qatar, where he met with its ruling emir. Qatar is incensed over an\u00a0Israeli strike last week that killed five Hamas members<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and a local security official.<\/p>\n

Rubio thanked Qatar, which has been a key negotiator in efforts to reach a ceasefire, for playing that role, according to a statement from his office, which did not directly acknowledge the Israeli strike. He also highlighted the countries\u2019 close ties.<\/p>\n

Arab and\u00a0Muslim nations denounced the strike<\/a><\/span>\u00a0at a summit Monday but stopped short of any major action targeting Israel, highlighting the challenge of pressuring Israel into changing course.<\/p>\n

Egypt escalates its rhetoric against Israel<\/h2>\n
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An Israeli army flare drifts over buildings destroyed during the Israeli ground and air operations in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (AP Photo\/Leo Correa)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>
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Egypt, which has had a peace deal with Israel for decades and has also served as a mediator in the war in Gaza, appears to be losing its patience with Israel.<\/p>\n

Egypt\u2019s president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, described Israel as \u201can enemy\u201d in a fiery speech at the Qatar summit Monday. It was the first time an Egyptian leader used the term since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1979, said Diaa Rashwan, head of Egyptian government\u2019s State Information Service.<\/p>\n

Qatar\u2019s emir also used unusually strong language to denounce Israel at the summit.<\/p>\n

Egypt was the first Arab country to establish ties with Israel and their peace treaty is seen as a cornerstone for stability in the volatile region.<\/p>\n

\u201cEgypt is being threatened,\u201d Rashwan told the state-run Extra News television late Monday.<\/p>\n

El-Sissi\u2019s \u201cenemy\u201d comment played prominently across Egyptian newspapers\u2019 front pages on Tuesday and while Cairo has taken no steps to change its status with Israel, the Egyptian government likely is trying to signal just how seriously it takes Israel\u2019s recent actions.<\/p>\n

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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Munich, Germany, and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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