Pro-Israel US senator criticises Gaza City invasion

Democratic US Senator Chris Coons, who has been a staunch supporter of Israel, voices opposition to the Israeli plan to seize Gaza City.

“Netanyahu’s ground invasion of Gaza City is a dangerous mistake that will worsen the tragic humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” Coons, a close ally of former US President Joe Biden, wrote in a social media post.

“I will always stand for Israel’s right to self-defense, but this move risks thousands of innocent lives and only makes the return of hostages held by Hamas and a ceasefire harder to achieve.”

US Muslim group urges Congress to stop Gaza genocide after UN report

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) says Congress has a moral and legal obligation to stop the mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza after the UN Commission of Inquiry’s report that concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

“The world can no longer look away. The evidence of genocide in Gaza is overwhelming, and now it has been confirmed by a United Nations investigation. The Israeli government has acted with clear intent to destroy the Palestinian population in Gaza,” the group said in a statement.

“We call on members of Congress to immediately recognize this genocide, condemn it in the strongest possible terms, and act to suspend all military aid to the Israeli government. Our nation cannot continue using American taxpayer dollars to fund what every know [sic] is a genocide, whether they admit or not.”

Congress authorises billions of dollars in military aid to Israel annually.

Main events on September 16th

• The Israeli military killed more than 100 Palestinians in Gaza, the vast majority in besieged Gaza City, destroying at least 17 homes and residential buildings and a mosque since the early hours of the morning.
• A large number of Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles were shown to be advancing toward Gaza City, with the Israeli army saying a third division will soon join the ground invasion.
• An independent UN inquiry found that Israel’s nearly two-year war on Gaza is a genocide, and Israel responded by calling it “fabricated”.
• Israeli soldiers killed two young Palestinians with live bullets and shot and wounded another in separate incidents amid ongoing raids across the occupied West Bank, during which at least 40 people were detained.
• The Houthis in Yemen claimed responsibility for launching two ballistic missiles at Israel after Israeli warplanes bombed the port city of Hodeidah and officials vowed more attacks.
• France urged a halt to the Israeli attacks as the European Union is set to decide on suspending the trade section of the bloc’s cooperation agreement with Israel.
• Thousands of Israelis protested in Jerusalem and marched from the residence of Benjamin Netanyahu to his office as families of captives demanded their release through a ceasefire deal with Hamas.

EXCLUSIVE: It's a GENOCIDE, say UN commissioners to Mehdi for the FIRST Time

On Tuesday, in a groundbreaking report, the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory officially concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. This, of course, comes as the members of the commission are set to soon step down, after announcing their resignations this summer amid the US’s escalating attacks on the UN.

In this exclusive interview, Mehdi speaks with two of the commissioners behind this report: Chair Navi Pillay and commissioner Chris Sidoti, one of Australia’s most prominent human rights lawyers.

In the interview, Pillay – who served as president for the UN’s International Tribunal for Rwanda – immediately draws parallels between Israel’s genocide and the Rwandan genocide.

Chair Navi Pillay: “It’s when I came to the deliberate shooting of the single standing building where the fertility clinic was and the embryos that immediately reminded me of the Rwanda genocide where I was a judge and where they ripped the bellies of pregnant women, pulled out the fetuses because they wanted to kill off the entire Tutsi group,” Pillay and Sidoti also both point out that unlike the Rwandan genocide, Palestinians in Gaza do not have neighboring countries they can escape to. Chris Sidoti: “There is nowhere that the people of Gaza can go to escape this slaughter”.

The commissioners also address criticism that their report does not cover Hamas’s war crimes, with Pillay noting that the commission has addressed Hamas’s war crimes in previous reports.

Francesca Albanese on Gaza: "The Shame of Our Time"

On 15 September at United Nations HQ in Geneva, Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, delivered a grave assessment of conditions in Gaza and the West Bank. She cites 710 days of “absolute horror,” presenting figures that include large Palestinian death tolls, widespread destruction across Gaza, the killing of health workers, journalists, and UN staff, mass detentions, and reported abuses in custody. She warns that ongoing military operations threaten remaining Israeli hostages and describes escalating raids and displacement in the occupied West Bank.

Albanese argues that international complicity has enabled what she calls a genocide and a collapse of the international legal order. She urges world leaders to move beyond words, and highlights acts of solidarity by workers, students, and communities who reject complicity. Her call to action centers on justice, equality, and freedom for millions. Note: all figures and characterizations are those presented by the speaker.

UN Declares GENOCIDE - Israel’s Cheerleaders Have NOWHERE Left To Hide

Former soldier exposes British colonel doing Israel’s dirty work



We spoke to a former British soldier about why Colonel Richard Kemp, a prominent British army officer of the War on Terror era, was recently in Gaza doing propaganda for Israel.

Declassified spoke to defence journalist Joe Glenton, who has been researching Kemp’s ties to Israel, which include raising money for IDF soldiers, being invited to Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites in Gaza, and his longstanding links to pro-Israel advocacy groups.

Trump, Rubio reveal extraordinary nervousness over Netanyahu after Qatar attack

Two significant developments involving Donald Trump and his Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the last two days have indicated an alarming sense of fear in the US administration in criticizing the Israeli attack on Qatar. While Trump performed a spectacular U-turn and denied being notified by Netanyahu before the attack on Doha, Rubio and his boss refused to give unequivocal assurance that Qatar wouldn’t be attacked again. Rifat Jawaid looks at the remarkable development plaguing the US administration.

Few Lebanese families return to villages in south destroyed by Israel war

Israeli troops arrest 7 during dawn raids in Nablus city

Israeli forces arrested seven people from Nablus city in the occupied West Bank.

According to the Wafa news agency, citing security and local sources, Israeli soldiers stormed the city from several areas and raided homes in the Khallet al-Amoud area, the Middle Cooperation, Street 24, and the al-Ein refugee camp, where they arrested five Palestinians.

Troops also stormed the village of Burqa, northwest of Nablus city, and arrested two young men after searching their families’ homes.

The escalation in the occupied West Bank comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advances an illegal settlement expansion plan that would all but eliminate the possibility of a Palestinian state.

Israeli forces demolish 40 homes in al-Sir village

Israeli authorities demolished 40 homes in the village of al-Sir in the Negev desert region, the Wafa news agency reports.

Citing local sources, it said Israeli police fired sound and smoke bombs at protesting residents while fires broke out inside several homes after their owners set them ablaze in response to the arrival of Israeli bulldozers.

Clashes and attacks on civilians were reported.

About 50 families in the village have received immediate demolition orders. According to residents, Israeli forces are also uprooting trees.

UK lawmakers denied entry to occupied West Bank by Israel

Two Labour MPs, Peter Prinsley and Simon Opher, say they were denied entry to the occupied West Bank by Israeli authorities.

In a letter, they said the visit was organised by the Council for Arab-British Understanding to enable parliamentarians to see “vital medical and humanitarian work of a range of organisations” in the Israeli-occupied territory, and the decision to stop them is “deeply regrettable”.

The UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting slammed the move by Israel, calling it “shameful but no longer surprising”.

Hamish Falconer, the UK’s Middle East minister, said it’s “unacceptable” that Opher and Prinsley were denied access.

“I have remained in contact with both colleagues throughout, and I have been clear with the Israeli authorities that this is no way to treat British parliamentarians,” Falconer said.

Unacceptable that two more British MPs have been denied entry to the Occupied Palestinian Territories by Israel.

I have remained in contact with both colleagues throughout and I have been clear with the Israeli authorities that this is no way to treat British parliamentarians.

— Hamish Falconer MP (@HFalconerMP) September 16, 2025

Situation in Gaza a ‘humanitarian calamity with no safe exits’

More and more Palestinian families are fleeing Gaza City under the threat of Israeli attacks with no guarantees of safety at all.

While we’re here, we met friends, relatives and neighbours, and they told us they spent more than 13 hours to make this difficult journey to the south of the Strip because of the vast overcrowding of roads. People say they’re totally exhausted.

We also met a number of dual nationals still stuck in Gaza who said this is the fifth time they were forced to flee from one area to another under the echoes of explosions and the wide-scale mass expulsion orders issued by the Israeli military.

Everyone on the ground is going through a serious crisis. It is a systematic policy by Israel to control Palestinian land and reshape it. What is still unfolding is a humanitarian calamity with no safe exits.

‘Under the eyes of the world, Gaza City is being destroyed’

We have spoken to Amjad Shawa, the director of the Palestinian NGOs Network, about the increasingly desperate situation unfolding in Gaza City and other parts of the Strip amid the intensifying Israeli assault.

Shawa sounded the alarm about an unfolding “humanitarian catastrophe” affecting all Palestinians in the besieged territory, highlighting the effect on tens of thousands of malnourished children.

“I have been in contact with many families that have children who are malnourished and they don’t know what to do,” he told Al Jazeera from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. “They fled Gaza to the middle area and they don’t know how to deal with that; the clinics are full and there is no space for them to stay.”

Shawa said the goal of Israel’s military operation on Gaza City is “clear”.

“To destroy what has been left in Gaza City; this historical city is one of the oldest seaports all over the world – now, under the eyes of the world, it is under destruction,” he added.

“The Israeli plan is to deport the Palestinians,” Shawa continued. “It’s a very critical moment that we are passing through. They are pushing us for deportation, they will level Gaza and destroy it totally and make it an unlivable place for living.”

_{Displaced Palestinians, fleeing northern Gaza because of the Israeli ground invasion, move southward after Israeli forces ordered their mass expulsion}

Thousands of Israeli soldiers storm Gaza City

Israeli troops and tanks are pushing deeper into Gaza City on the second day of a ground offensive widely condemned internationally as Palestinians flee the devastated area en masse.

Israel’s military said air force and artillery units attacked the city more than 150 times in the past few days before the ground forces moved in. The strikes have toppled high-rise towers in areas densely populated by tent camps for the displaced.

The death count in Gaza is now nearing 65,000 since the war began in October 2023, a figure said to be far lower than the actual number of people killed.

An Israeli military graphic suggested it plans to control all of the Gaza Strip except for a swath along the coast by the end of the current invasion.

Israeli forces have carried out multiple large-scale raids into Gaza City over the course of the war, causing mass displacements and heavy destruction, only to see Palestinian fighters regroup later.

This time, Israel has pledged to take control of the entire city, which experts said is experiencing famine.


Israeli army targets Deir el-Balah city

Israeli soldiers opened fire on eastern areas of Deir el-Balah city, in the central Gaza Strip, as artillery shelling targeted the same area, local residents say. In the vicinity of Sheikh Radwan, northwest of Gaza City, Israeli forces detonated booby-trapped robots near buildings.

Israeli forces continue to carry out intense attacks in Gaza City, forcibly displacing tens of thousands of residents in order to seize and occupy the territory.

‘Next level’ Israeli army attack on devastated Gaza City

Rob Geist Pinfold from King’s College London says two divisions of Israeli soldiers, or about 20,000 troops, are now involved in the plan to seize the encircled Gaza City.

“This is a real escalation and it is a sea change in how Israel has been fighting during this campaign in Gaza. Normally, we’ve seen much more surgical, small-scale operations. It’s easy to forget because of the desperate and dire situation on the ground in Gaza after so long, so much fighting, so much despair,” he said.

“This will really turn things up to the next level and we’ll see Gazans facing more acute need than ever before.”

He said Israeli soldiers are “stuck in this position” they don’t want to be in, and “fighting among a sea of civilians, but also having to look after their welfare and needs”.

“It’s important to remember this policy is opposed by a majority of Israelis, opposed by the Israeli military leadership. But it’s being pushed through by Netanyahu and his far-right coalition,” Geist Pinfold told Al Jazeera.

Internet and phone services interrupted in northern Gaza

The Palestinian Telecommunications Regulatory Commission has said internet and telephone services are down in northern Gaza due to Israeli attacks.

It reported that fixed internet and landline services had been interrupted in Gaza and North Gaza Governorates due to Israeli forces’ targeting of several main routes supplying the region.

It also said its crews are working around the clock to repair faults amid the dangerous situation on the ground.

Israeli attack on tent shelter kills 5 in Gaza ‘humanitarian zone’

At least five people have been killed following Israeli bombardment of a tent housing displaced people in al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, a source from Nasser Hospital tells Al Jazeera.

Aid seekers killed by Israeli gunfire in western Rafah

A number of Palestinians have been killed and wounded after Israeli troops opened fire on desperate people waiting to receive food in the western area of Rafah, southern Gaza, sources tell Al Jazeera.

Since the establishment of the US- and Israeli-backed GHF at the end of May, at least 2,497 people have been killed and more than 18,294 wounded, the Health Ministry reported on Tuesday.

The GHF initiative has been widely denounced by aid groups and the United Nations. The UN and humanitarian agencies say they have the means to distribute desperately needed aid to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians in starved Gaza.

Health Ministry warns of ‘complete halt’ to Gaza services as Israel blocks WHO bid to bring in fuel

We have a new statement from the Health Ministry in Gaza accusing Israeli forces of “deliberately” thwarting attempts by the World Health Organization (WHO) to bring fuel into hospitals in the besieged territory.

The ministry said Israeli forces have been preventing WHO teams from using alternative routes to deliver fuel to hospitals in Gaza City and other northern areas.

“Preventing the supply of fuel needed to operate generators in Gaza’s hospitals means a complete halt to health services,” it said, warning the crisis threatens to shut down the Assahaba Medical Complex, the Public Service Hospital, the central oxygen station, ambulances, and other hospitals within just a few days.

“The shutdown of the central oxygen station and ambulances in Gaza Governorate means we are facing a serious health and humanitarian disaster,” the ministry added, calling for urgent intervention to ensure the delivery of fuel into Gaza’s hospitals.

‘Evisceration of life’: Aid groups call for a halt to Israel’s Gaza City attack

Nearly two dozen of the world’s leading aid groups have called for the international community to take stronger action against Israel’s assault on Gaza City, describing the situation across the Strip as an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe”.

The statement – co-signed by Save the Children, ActionAid International, Oxfam and Islamic Relief, among others – said governments need to act to “prevent the evisceration of life in the Gaza Strip”.

The demand comes in the wake of a UN inquiry finding evidence of genocide in Gaza. They said the moment is a “test of humanity” that the world is currently failing.

“States must use every available political, economic, and legal tool at their disposal to intervene. Rhetoric and half measures are not enough. This moment demands decisive action,” they said.

“Now, as the Israeli government has ordered the mass displacement of Gaza City – home to nearly one million people – we are on the precipice of an even deadlier period in Gaza’s story if action is not taken. Gaza has been deliberately made uninhabitable.”

Saudi Arabia condemns ‘in strongest terms’ Israeli ground assault on Gaza City

Saudi Arabia has joined the chorus of condemnation of Israel’s ground offensive on Gaza City.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said the kingdom condemned “in the strongest terms” the Israeli forces’ assault and their continued perpetration of crimes against the Palestinian people.

It also criticised the international community’s inaction in taking effective measures to end to what it described as violations of international law and international humanitarian law.