Today marks 43rd anniversary of Sabra and Shatila massacre

One of the ugliest atrocities in the post-World War II era took place in Beirut 43 years ago, when right-wing Christian militias allied with Israel entered the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camp under Israeli army protection and attacked defenceless people.

As many as 3,500 Palestinians and Lebanese civilians were killed in the massacre. Survivors have described horrific acts committed by the Israeli-backed forces, including sexual assault, mass executions and the mutilation of bodies.

Decades of efforts to bring the Israeli and Lebanese perpetrators to justice have failed to ensure meaningful accountability for the victims.


Israeli drone fires stun grenade at south Lebanon town

Lebanon’s National News Agency reports that an Israeli drone has dropped a stun grenade, targeting the village of Aita al-Shaab.

Israel has been launching near daily attacks across Lebanon in violation of a ceasefire it agreed with Hezbollah in November of last year. It often uses stun grenades in border towns as part of a campaign that locals say aims to intimidate residents and discourage displaced people against returning to their homes.

Israel says ICRC visits to Palestinian prisoners would ‘harm national security’: Report

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that an Israel Prison Service representative has told the parliament’s National Security Committee that allowing the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit Palestinian prisoners held in Israel would “harm prison security and national security”.

The representative is quoted as saying that visits would increase “the potential for transmitting negative messages”, adding that it could aid “direction and coordination” of the prisoners and lead to the “accumulation of cold weapons”.

In August, Ibrahim Khraishi, Palestine’s permanent observer to the United Nations in Geneva, appealed to the ICRC to step in and protect Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, warning that systematic abuse and neglect are endangering lives.

He called for the release of the most vulnerable detainees, including the sick, elderly, women, children and those held without charge, and condemned a violent incident in which Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir entered Marwan Barghouti’s cell and threatened to kill him.

In September, Israel’s Supreme Court, in a rare ruling, said that the Israeli government is intentionally depriving thousands of Palestinian prisoners of even a minimum amount of food for daily subsistence.

Translation: We don't want you seeing what we're doing here. The Truth harms Israel's extermination of Palestinians.

Israeli protesters march from Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence to office

Families of captives held in Gaza have organised another demonstration aimed at the prime minister, who they accuse of refusing a ceasefire in favor of escalating military attacks on the enclave.

They condemned Benjamin Netanyahu and praised Donald Trump for his promises to bring back all the captives.

“Our Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening to our cries to save the hostages and end this war – but he will listen to you! Bring him to the table for a deal that will bring everyone home!”, the families said in a statement read out in English.

Hostage family members and protesters are now marching from the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem toward his office, where he will hold a press conference.

Credit: Tanya Zion-Waldoks pic.twitter.com/7EH148q84K

— Bring Them Home Now (@bringhomenow) September 16, 2025

Israeli defence minister says ‘Gaza is burning’ under Israel’s ‘iron fist’

Israel Katz says Israeli forces are striking Gaza with “an iron fist”. “Gaza is burning,” Katz boasted on X. “We will not relent and we will not go back – until the completion of the mission.”

Israelis say they can hear sound of bombs in central Israel

Israeli political commentator Ori Goldberg says Israel’s bombing of Gaza has been so intense that the “bombs can be heard” in central parts of his country. In a post on X, Goldberg said Israel’s actions in Gaza amounted to “annihilation” and “genocide”.

Former Israeli captive Arbel Yehoud, who is protesting outside Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem, also said the explosions could be heard in Israel.

“My Ariel is in real danger,” Yehoud said, referring to her boyfriend, Ariel Cunio, who is still being held in Gaza, according to The Times of Israel. “The sounds of the explosions from Gaza shake the walls of my home and the chambers of my heart,” she said.

‘Amateurish, sloppy’: Lapid slams Israel’s Gaza City ground invasion

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has slammed Netanyahu’s decision to launch a ground invasion of Gaza City, calling his conduct “amateurish and sloppy”.

In an interview with the Israeli media outlet Ynet, Lapid expressed bewilderment at the lack of clarity on what the “end picture is” for Gaza and “how we’ll bring back the hostages, how we’ll end the war”.

“Everything is amateurish and sloppy and arrogant and improvised, and then he cries that there’s international isolation.

“This is senseless. I haven’t heard in all my years of a military operation that has no political objective. They’re sending the army to fight there. Soldiers will be killed. Hostages will be killed, and nobody understands what the goal is.”

Gaza City evacuation orders constitute ethnic cleansing, war crimes: Israeli rights groups

Israeli human rights organisations have called on Israeli officials to cancel the mass evacuation threat for Gaza City, saying such an order constitutes forced displacement and ethnic cleansing.

Israeli news outlet Haaretz reported that the organisations, which include the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), Physicians for Human Rights, Gisha, and Adalah – the Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, said the threats are intended to “displace an exhausted and starving population that has nowhere to flee”.

It posited that the orders “do not stem from military necessity” and are “contrary to international law” and therefore should not be accepted.

Doha attack shows Israel uninterested in serious ceasefire negotiations: Guterres

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has held a news conference before the 80th session of the UN General Assembly.

Here are some of his comments:

Israeli military operations taking region to ‘total chaos’, Egypt warns

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has condemned the Israeli ground invasion of Gaza City, saying that the assault reflects Israel’s “reckless” policies.

“We warn of the catastrophic risks of Israeli operations in the region, which is on the verge of a new phase of total chaos as a result of Israel’s recklessness,” the ministry said.

It added that all sides across the Middle East and the world without exception will be harmed by Israel’s behaviour.

Luxembourg to recognise Palestinian state

Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Luc Frieden has said the country will join several other European nations which plan to recognise a Palestinian state during the UN General Assembly later this month.

Speaking to reporters, Frieden said “the situation on the ground has deteriorated considerably in recent months.

“A movement is now emerging in Europe and around the world to demonstrate that the two-state solution is still relevant,” Frieden added. “That is why the Luxembourg government intends to join those who recognise the State of Palestine at next week’s conference on the two-state solution.”

Countries including the UK, Australia, Canada and Belgium have said they plan to recognise a Palestinian state at the meeting, while Luxembourg is among several European countries which have been more critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg’s former long-serving foreign minister who stepped down in 2023, said other than Ireland and Spain, EU member states “didn’t give a f***” about Palestinian statehood.

Sweden ‘deeply critical’ of Israeli offensive on Gaza City

Sweden has joined the chorus of international condemnation of Israel’s expansion of its ground offensive in Gaza City.

In a post on X, Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said her government was “deeply critical of the intensified military offensive in Gaza that is now being carried out”.

“The offensive exacerbates an already catastrophic humanitarian situation, and leads to widespread forced displacements of the civilian population, which violates international law,” she said.

She said the offensive made it even more urgent to ratchet up pressure on Israel, for the EU to progress with proposals to freeze the trade component of the association agreement between the bloc and Israel, and to impose sanctions against “extremist Israeli ministers”.

Germany slams Israel’s ground offensive on Gaza City as ‘completely wrong’

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has condemned Israel’s escalation of its offensive on Gaza City as “a step in the completely wrong direction”.

“We reject this and have made this clear to the Israeli government,” he said during a news briefing.

Wadephul appealed to the Israeli government to instead return “to the path of negotiations for a ceasefire and an agreement” on the release of captives held in Gaza.

Rubio says Hamas has only days to accept ceasefire deal

The US secretary of state told reporters in Israel that Hamas has only a matter of days to accept a Gaza ceasefire deal, as Israel has begun its ground offensive in Gaza City.

Last month, Hamas informed mediators it had agreed to a Gaza ceasefire proposal and was ready to resume negotiations to discuss ending Israel’s war on Gaza.

As Hamas negotiators were meeting in Doha to discuss a new US-backed proposal, Israel bombed them, sabotaging the talks.

Trump keeps threatening Hamas, but what can he do?

For months, the US president has been issuing threats to Hamas, warning the group to free the Israeli captives or else.

In his latest warning today, Donald Trump said that the group would be in “big trouble” if it uses the captives as “human shields” in the way of Israel’s systematic annihilation of Gaza City, home to around one million Palestinians.

Yesterday, he made a similar threat, saying that if reports that Hamas is moving the captives above ground were true, “all bets are off”.

Earlier this month, Trump also issued what he called a “final warning” for Hamas. Even before coming into office in January, Trump threatened Hamas that “all hell will break out” if the captives were not released.

But it appears that there is little Washington can do to Hamas and Palestinians that Israel has not done already. Most of Hamas’s leadership, including its political and military chiefs, have been killed.

The White House may allow Israel to step up its military campaign in Gaza, which has been widely described by academics, United Nations officials and rights groups as a genocide. However, the US under both Trump and his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, has done little to rein in its ally to begin with.

It is also difficult to apply Trump’s favoured methods of foreign policy coercion, tariffs and sanctions, to Hamas. The group has long been labelled as a “foreign terrorist organisation” by the US, so its assets and interests are under maximum sanctions.

Whenever asked about the situation in Gaza, Trump pivots to his efforts to free the Israeli captives, but Hamas has repeatedly agreed to proposals that would release them all as part of a lasting ceasefire.

Where does Trump’s claim that Hamas will use captives as ‘human shields’ come from?

Over the past 24 hours, the US president has warned Hamas twice against using Israeli captives as “human shields” during Israel’s invasion of Gaza City.

Today, the US president suggested that Hamas itself has expressed that intent. “They put it out two days ago that they’re going to use the hostages as human shield,” Trump said.

In reality, the claim comes from a report by the Israeli public broadcaster, Kan, which cited unidentified Palestinian sources as saying that Hamas is moving the captives to homes and tents above ground to complicate the fighting for Israel.

Hamas has repeatedly warned that Israel’s bombardment and starvation campaign in Gaza also affects the captives. Dozens of Israeli captives have already been killed, including many in suspected Israeli air strikes.

Early in September, Hamas released a video of one of the captives filmed in a car in Gaza City. But the group has never threatened to use the captives as human shields.

‘Lies’: Hamas dismisses Israeli justification for destroying Gaza City

The Palestinian group has pushed back against Israeli claims that it is systematically destroying residential towers in Gaza because they were being used by Hamas.

“The claims of the enemy army spokesman regarding the resistance’s use of residential towers in Gaza City for military purposes are nothing but blatant lies,” it said in a statement.

“The enemy tries to justify its crimes to cover up its systematic destruction of Gaza City, just as it previously destroyed the cities of Rafah, Khan Yunis, Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia.”

Israeli officials, including Defence Minister Israel Katz, have revelled in levelling what remains of Gaza City.

On Sunday, Katz shared footage of a high-rise building in Gaza being obliterated by an Israeli strike, with the caption: “The house of cards. The skyline of Gaza is changing.”

Tracking the death toll of Israel’s war on Gaza

Tracking the Israeli-induced famine in Gaza

Israeli army has launched major operation in Gaza City: Netanyahu

PM Netanyahu, during his testimony at a corruption trial today, said the Israeli army has begun a “significant operation” in Gaza City.

He has requested he be excused from proceedings.

What is happening in Gaza City?

Israel says it has started the main part of a ground operation to take control of Gaza City, hours after top US diplomat Marco Rubio met Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

‘Witnessing a systematic, unfolding terror’ in Gaza City

This is a tactic of sandwiching whoever remains in the city.

The eastern part of Gaza has already been cleared – not just of buildings or physical structures but also the densely populated area. People fled into the western part of the city but now find themselves displaced yet again.

We’re talking about another sleepless night that gripped Gaza City. In fact, it was one of the worst nights in the past few weeks with relentless explosions causing fear and panic among the residents.

They have to run out of their homes in the middle of the night with nothing other than the clothes that they’re wearing, seeking shelter towards the coast of Gaza City. Fighter jets are hovering at a very dangerously low level in the past hour or two. The sky remains filled with the constant hum of drones, leaving residents unable to rest.

What we are witnessing is a systematic, unfolding terror inflicted on this population. They live in constant fear that their building will be next and they will lose everything and find themselves on the road again to displacement.

Video shows huge explosions in Gaza City

Footage circulating on social media shows huge explosions as the Israeli army bombs Tal al-Hawa, a neighbourhood in the south of Gaza City.

The video, posted on Instagram and verified by Al Jazeera, shows huge clouds of smoke and dust rising from the sites of the explosions, which are viewed from streets lined with the rubble of destroyed buildings.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOp7bteCgkl

Brutal Israeli offensive rendering Gaza City ‘completely uninhabitable’

Right now, Gaza City is defined by relentless bombardment from military operations that are leaving the landscape completely uninhabitable.

The Israeli military has deployed different military tactics to force people to leave Gaza City to the south – most notably excessive firepower, seen in the deliberate destruction of high-rise buildings.

We also have testimonies from eyewitnesses confirming that the Israeli military has deployed more booby-trapped vehicles to destroy what’s left of residential houses in the main urban centres of Gaza City.

More and more families are leaving these areas, and the death toll is soaring. We understand 78 Palestinians have been killed since dawn today.

Israeli ground forces have now been slowly moving into the main residential neighbourhoods in line with the stated Israeli objective of controlling Gaza City and breaking Hamas’s grip over the territory.

Israel says 40 percent of Gaza City residents have fled south

An Israeli army official has estimated 40 percent of Gaza City’s residents have fled the besieged city as troops move deeper into its centre.

Palestinians have been forced to flee south to the al-Mawasi encampment on the coast, where hundreds of thousands of people are crammed into a sea of tents without sanitation, regular water access or basic services.

More than 1 million Palestinians remain in northern Gaza: Authorities

Despite repeated Israeli forced displacement orders, Gaza’s Government Media Office says people in the north of the enclave remain “rooted” to their land.

The office said out of 1.3 million people in Gaza City and towns to its north, about 190,000 have fled to the south while 15,000 returned to the north due to the dire conditions in the areas that the Israeli army had designated as “safe zones”.

The local authorities noted that Israel has been regularly attacking Rafah and al-Mawasi near Khan Younis, where it told people to go.

“These areas completely lack the basic necessities of life, with no hospitals, no infrastructure, and no essential services such as water, food, shelter, electricity or education, making living there almost impossible,” the office said in a statement.


_{Smoke rises from an Israeli bombardment in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip on September 13}

Devastating scenes as Palestinians forced to flee Gaza City

For many of the people who are trying to escape from Gaza City, it might be the final journey of displacement. They believe they may not return. The scenes are tragically consistent: vans, cars, trucks and donkey carts loaded with whatever these families had left in Gaza City.

Many people said in the initial days of the ground operation that they would not leave Gaza City. But, right now, Israel is burning the ground. They’re destroying every kind of civilian infrastructure and have cut off aid deliveries to the city, all for one clear purpose – to relocate them into the southern part of Gaza.

Some people are unable to afford the cost of transportation. We see exhausted faces, mothers carrying their babies, elderly people on foot.

What is so devastating to see is the vulnerability of children who have lost their parents and found themselves on the move again. They’re struggling to find any patch of land where they can stay in the absence of their parents and are completely reliant on strangers to survive.

_{Displaced Palestinians flee southwards in response to Israel’s intensified offensive on Gaza City}