The operation to occupy what is believed to be the last remaining Hamas stronghold has been confirmed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the IDF

Palestinians watch the Al-Ghafri tower collapse in heavy smoke during an Israeli strike on Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood, September 15, 2025. © Getty Images / Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto

Israel has launched a ground offensive in Gaza City, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Tuesday.

Speaking at the opening session of his corruption trial, Netanyahu asked to be excused from testimony due to the “important things happening,” declaring that the IDF “has begun an intensive operation in Gaza City.”

The military later confirmed that two IDF divisions, numbering tens of thousands of troops, had begun expanded ground operations overnight as the army entered a “new stage” of its campaign against Hamas. The IDF said the 162nd and 98th divisions were leading the push and that the 36th division would join in the coming days.

The escalation follows the Israeli Security Cabinet’s approval last month of plans to seize Gaza City – one of the few areas not under IDF control – in a move that could pave the way for a full takeover of the Palestinian enclave.

While a ground assault had been anticipated in October, the early phases of the offensive, dubbed ‘Gideon’s Chariots B’, began weeks ago with intensified strikes on alleged Hamas positions, including high-rise towers, as well as ground raids on the outskirts of Gaza City and several neighborhoods to the west.

Palestinian media reported heavy strikes on Gaza City and its outskirts on Monday night, with some outlets claiming that IDF tanks had entered.

16 September 2025

19:40 GMT

Yemen’s Houthis have said their forces fired two hypersonic missiles at Israel in retaliation for the “brutal, criminal aggression” in Gaza. The Shiite militant group pledged to continue attacks against Israel until it lifts its blockade of the Palestinian enclave.

Earlier on Tuesday, the IDF reported that its air defenses had intercepted a rocket launched from Yemen.

Around the same time, the Houthi-run broadcaster Al Masirah TV aired pictures of funeral services for 31 Yemeni journalists who were reportedly killed in an Israeli air strike on the city of Sanaa last week.

19:09 GMT

Israeli claims that Hamas has been using high-rise residential buildings in Gaza for military purposes “are nothing but blatant lies,” the Palestinian armed group has stated.

“The enemy tries to justify its crimes to cover up its systematic destruction of Gaza City,” a Hamas statement has claimed.

 

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz made the allegations on Sunday.

18:46 GMT

The situation as Israel pounds Gaza City is “horrendous,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said.

”We are seeing massive killing of civilians in a way that I do not remember in any conflict since I am Secretary-General,” he told a press conference in New York.

Israel is also preventing the distribution of humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians in a “morally, politically and legally intolerable” manner, he said.

17:54 GMT

Madrid has warned that any attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) – a fleet of some 44 boats crewed by activists from 40 countries carrying aid to Gaza – “will lead to accountability.”

The GSF, which was attacked by drones twice while docked in Tunis, has backing from 15 countries, including Brazil, South Africa, Ireland, and Türkiye.

 

Spain urged “everyone to refrain from any unlawful or violent act” and respect international law.

16:54 GMT

IDF spokesperson Effie Defrin has characterized Gaza City as the “central hub of Hamas’ military and governing power,” accusing the militants of turning the area into the “largest human shield in history.”

“Beneath the streets runs a vast network of tunnels, connecting command centers, rocket launchers, and weapon storage facilities – all deliberately hidden under civilians, in civilian infrastructure,” he said.

Defrin urged Palestinian civilians to stay away from the combat zone, and claimed that the IDF has “expanded humanitarian efforts in Gaza” in recent weeks.

 

 

15:39 GMT

The relatives of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas have staged a protest outside of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem, denouncing his government’s decision to launch a new offensive in Gaza City. The activists have vowed that their encampment will remain in place “until Netanyahu listens and implements the people’s will.” They expressed concerns that intensifying military activity would put the lives of 20 hostages, believed to still be alive, at grave risk.

Source: Social Media

 

15:15 GMT

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has denounced the “new IDF assault on Gaza [as] utterly reckless and appalling.”

In a post on X on Tuesday, the British official predicted that the Israeli military onslaught “will only bring more bloodshed, kill more innocent civilians & endanger the remaining hostages.”

Cooper called for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages held in Hamas captivity, and unrestricted humanitarian aid to the densely-populated Palestinian enclave.

14:20 GMT

US President Donald Trump has said he doesn’t “know too much” about Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza City, but repeated his earlier warning that if Hamas uses hostages as human shields, the group “will have hell to pay.”

 

 

14:13 GMT

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said the country’s role as mediator in Gaza ceasefire talks has become a lower priority after Israel’s strike targeting Hamas leaders in Doha last week.

“We are now focused on protecting our sovereignty and responding to the [Israeli] attack, and on taking all necessary measures to ensure this does not happen again. All other political considerations are currently of secondary importance,” he told reporters at a weekly briefing.

14:12 GMT

Israel has confirmed bombing Yemen’s Hodeidah port. Army spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X that the Israeli Air Force struck the port in response to recent Houthi drone and missile attacks.

He claimed that the group uses the port to transfer military equipment from Iran and said the IDF will “continue to act forcefully” against them.

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