While the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) continue their attempts to forcibly empty Gaza City of its residents and displaced people, ordering them to move to the southern and central Gaza Strip under the claim that these are “humanitarian zones”, they systematically violate these very areas, intensifying mass killings, including direct targeting of the displaced themselves. On 6 September, the IOF declared al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, a so-called humanitarian zone,1 urging residents and displaced persons in Gaza to evacuate there and to the central Gaza Strip as shelter areas. However, the IOF have relentlessly targeted these zones, reflecting a recurring pattern over the past two years and exposing Israel’s false claims about the existence of safe or humanitarian areas. This further proves that there is no safe place in the Gaza Strip, and that what is unfolding is a policy of deliberate killings intended to intimidate the population and advance acts of genocide.
Over the past few days, the IOF have committed horrific crimes in the central Gaza Strip and in the al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis. Markets, residential neighborhoods, and tents sheltering the displaced came under direct attack, resulting in the killing and injury of dozens of civilians, among them women and children.
These incidents demonstrate that, although the IOF designated certain areas as “humanitarian” or “shelter” zones, they have failed to comply with the standards enshrined in international humanitarian law regarding forced evacuations. They have disregarded obligations to provide genuinely safe locations, ensure the protection of civilians, guarantee access to basic needs, and secure the right of displaced people to return. Over the past two years, instead of fulfilling these obligations, the IOF have systematically used forced displacement as yet another tool of killing and targeting.
A review of the death toll recorded between 23 September 2025 and Sunday morning at 10:40 indicates that 51.5% of the victims were killed in airstrikes carried out by the IOF on Gaza City, while the rest were killed in areas to which the IOF had urged residents to evacuate under the claim that they were “safe humanitarian zones.” In total, 382 Palestinians were killed in IOF strikes and bombardments across the Gaza Strip, including 197 in Gaza City, with the rest in the central Gaza Strip, Rafah, and Khan Younis.
According to the Ministry of Health, from 7 October 2023 to 27 September 2025, the number of casualties in the Gaza Strip has risen to 65,926 killed and 167,783 wounded. This means that in less than two years, more than 10% of Gaza’s population has been either killed or injured as a result of Israel’s ongoing military offensive-a staggering and unprecedented toll. In addition, around 9,000 people remain missing, the majority presumed dead, as they could not be retrieved from beneath the rubble of destroyed buildings or from areas under IOF deployment.
As part of our researchers’ documentation in recent days, at approximately 03:50 on 28 September 2025, an Israeli drone strike targeted a room located on a plot of land in western al-Nusseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. As a result, Khaled Riyadh Ahmed Abu Jarbou’a (30) and his son, Mo’az (3), were killed.
At approximately 01:15 on the same day, Israeli warplanes targeted a house belonging to the Abu ‘Amer family in eastern Camp 2 of al-Nusseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. The strike resulted in the killing of 16 people, with six bodies recovered and the remaining victims still trapped beneath the rubble. The intensity of the explosion and the scattering debris also caused injuries among residents of nearby houses.
At approximately 10:15 on Saturday, 27 September 2025, an Israeli drone strike targeted a group of people gathered on al-Mufti land, north of al-Nusseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. The attack killed four, including two children, and injured 12 others with varying degrees of wounds.
At approximately 11:40 on the same day, an Israeli drone strike targeted a tent sheltering displaced persons in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. The attack killed journalist Mohammed Dawoud Khalil al-Dayah (38), who worked for the Palestinian Information Center, and wounded several others with varying degrees of injuries.
At approximately 17:25 on the same day, an Israeli drone strike targeted a crowd in the central market of al-Nusseirat refugee camp. The attack killed 18 people, including six children and one woman, and wounded 60 others. Several of the injured sustained critical wounds, raising concerns that the death toll may further increase.
It should be noted that the targeted location is among the most overcrowded areas in al-Nusseirat refugee camp and the central Gaza Strip, particularly following the recent wave of displacement from Gaza City. The location is a central market and serves as the only outlet for displaced persons and residents struggling under dire living conditions. Moreover, in recent days, the Israeli policy of killing Palestinian civilians has extended to areas near aid distribution centers. At dawn on Friday, 26 September 2025, dozens of civilians gathered at the U.S. aid distribution point in Netzarim, in the southern Gaza Valley.
At around 08:00, while people were gathered, IOF opened direct and intensive fire at the crowd, killing 11 civilians, including three children, and injuring 20 others with varying degrees of wounds.
At approximately 16:30 on Thursday, 25 September 2025, an Israeli drone strike targeted a tent inside al-Sitt Ameera camp on al-Baraka Street, south of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. The attack killed two people and wounded five others with varying degrees of injuries.
Earlier, at approximately 15:50 on the same day, an Israeli drone targeted the rooftop of a house belonging to the Bahar family in al-Nusseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. The strike killed four, including two elderly brothers and the son of one of them, and injured three others with varying degrees of wounds.
In parallel with these crimes, the IOF have escalated the use of explosive-laden armored vehicles detonated inside residential neighborhoods across Gaza City. These vehicles are being deployed and blown up in central neighborhoods after residents are ordered to evacuate under threat of detonation. Such practices are intended to spread fear and forcibly compel civilians to leave, constituting a grave violation of international humanitarian law.
Moreover, the IOF continue their daily destruction of houses and high-rise buildings across Gaza City’s neighborhoods, accompanied by ongoing killings and deliberate obstruction of humanitarian response efforts. To date, 20 hospitals in Gaza City have been forced out of service, while eight others remain partially operating under constant danger and bombardment.
Our field teams continue to face major difficulties in conducting on-the-ground documentation due to the dangerous situation, the ongoing mass displacement of residents, and the intense Israeli bombardment targeting all neighborhoods.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) emphasizes that these crimes form part of Israel’s genocidal policy against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, aimed at erasing them and wiping out their very existence. PCHR further stresses that the targeting of markets, aid centers, shelter areas, and homes constitutes war crimes under the Geneva Conventions. These acts are unjustifiable, and immediate action must be taken to bring them to an end.
PCHR reiterates its warning against the ongoing mass killings, systematic destruction, and assaults targeting civilians in Gaza City and across the entire Gaza Strip. PCHR calls on the international community to assume its responsibilities to halt this military offensive, prevent Israel from further destroying what remains of this historic city, which is home to hundreds of historical and cultural sites, and protect the thousands of residents and displaced persons who still live there.
PCHR further urges the international community, the United Nations, and the Security Council to act immediately, including:
