Amid intensified airstrikes by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and the extensive perpetration of mass killings in Gaza City, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the launch of a full-scale military ground invasion of the city. This declaration signals further escalation and an expansion of the ongoing crime of genocide against the Palestinian people.

Prior to Netanyahu’s declaration earlier this morning,¹ the IOF intensified their airstrikes on Gaza City, targeting two residential squares: one in al-Daraj neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, and another in al-Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in the north. These strikes resulted in the killing of 41 people, the injury of dozens more, and left at least 60 reported missing under the rubble

According to initial information collected by our researchers, on Tuesday, 16 September 2025, Israeli warplanes bombed an entire residential square in al-Daraj neighborhood in eastern Gaza City. As a result, houses belonging to the Taha, Mas’oud, al-Sawafiri, al-Hanjouri, and Saqallah families were destroyed on top of their residents. Meanwhile, civil defense teams managed to recover only 7 dead bodies while many others remain trapped under the rubble.

Israeli warplanes also bombed a residential square near al-Amn al-‘Aam in northwestern Gaza City, killing eight people and injuring 40 others, while many remain trapped beneath the rubble.

Earlier this morning, IOF detonated at least nine robots laden with tons of explosives in southern Gaza City. This reflects Israel’s systematic policy of employing robots carrying tons of explosives, particularly in al-Sheikh Radwan neighborhood and southern Gaza City that has so far destroyed entire squares and forcibly displaced hundreds of families.

Moreover, Israeli warplanes bombed al-Hindi family house in al-Sabra neighborhood in southern Gaza City, killing four people and injuring others.

At around 02:10 on Monday, 15 September 2025, Israeli warplanes targeted a displaced people’s tent behind Capital Mall in al-Rimal neighborhood, western Gaza city, killing nine members of the Abu Ghanimah and Wishah families, who had been displaced from al-Shuja’iyah neighborhood. The victims included two women and five children.

The IOF continue to bomb residential towers and high-rise buildings across Gaza City while simultaneously issuing new illegal evacuation orders against residents and displaced persons, forcing them to move toward al-Mawasi in Khan Younis and central Gaza Strip. These areas are themselves under daily Israeli bombardment and already overcrowded with hundreds of thousands of displaced people enduring dire shortages of basic services.

According to our staff’s follow-up, tens of thousands of people are sleeping in the streets without shelter, while thousands of others are unable to flee southward due to the lack of means for displacement and the absence of adequate space to accommodate all the displaced in al-Mawasi.

Our field researchers are facing immense difficulties in documentation due to the extremely dangerous situation and the ongoing mass displacement of the population under Israel’s relentless bombardment targeting all neighborhoods.

Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) warns against the ongoing massacres and systematic destruction targeting civilians in Gaza City, which have further escalated following Netanyahu’s declaration and the cover expressed by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. PCHR affirms that these actions constitute a blatant demonstration of the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people, aiming to eradicate their physical and cultural existence.

In light of the above, PCHR renews its urgent call to the international community to assume its responsibilities to halt this military assault and prevent Israel from continuing the destruction of what remains of a historic city that contains hundreds of cultural and historical landmarks and remains home to hundreds of thousands of residents and displaced persons.

PCHR calls on the international community, United Nations bodies, and the Security Council to assume their responsibilities and take immediate action, including providing urgent protection for civilians, establishing safe corridors for the delivery of medical and food aid, halting the use of tactics and weapons that target civilian neighborhoods, and compelling Israel to end the genocide it is committing against the residents of the Gaza Strip.

1.  Israel launches Gaza City ground invasion; IDF says 40% of residents fled south ↩︎