On Sunday, Day 709 of the ongoing genocide, the Israeli army continued its bombardment and shelling of multiple areas across the Gaza Strip, killing and injuring dozens of residents, including many awaiting humanitarian aid.
Israeli bombing and shelling have resulted in the killing of 53 Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip, with Gaza City bearing the brunt of the assault.
Sixteen buildings were demolished in the city, including three high-rise residential towers, as part of an intensified campaign aimed at capturing the northern urban hub and forcing its residents to flee. Medical sources reported that at least 35 of those killed on Sunday were in Gaza City.
Sixteen buildings were demolished in the city, including three high-rise residential towers, as part of an intensified campaign aimed at capturing the northern urban hub and forcing its residents to flee. Medical sources reported that at least 35 of those killed on Sunday were in Gaza City.
Gaza City witnessed an unprecedented escalation in Israeli airstrikes, with dozens of residential buildings, towers, and civilian institutions deliberately targeted.
Local sources confirmed that seven Palestinians were killed when a building near Barcelona Park in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood was struck.
Among the prominent structures destroyed were the Al-Kawthar, Al-Rabi’, Al-Samnah, and Al-Jundi Al-Majhoul towers, in addition to homes in the Al-Karama Towers and along Yarmouk Street.
The strikes also hit the Palestine Displacement Camp, which shelters over a hundred tents, and buildings adjacent to Al-Quds Hospital. The targeting of the Bakr family’s diwan and several other homes led to further casualties and injuries.
This escalation comes amid urgent warnings from humanitarian organizations about the deteriorating situation, as Israeli forces continue to target civilian shelters and displacement camps in violation of international humanitarian law.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza has reported two additional deaths in the past 24 hours due to starvation and acute malnutrition, bringing the total number of famine-related fatalities to 422, including 145 children.
Since the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) formally declared famine conditions in Gaza, on August 15, 2025, 144 deaths have been documented, 30 of them children, underscoring the lethal impact of prolonged siege and obstruction of humanitarian aid.
These figures reflect a deepening humanitarian catastrophe, as civilians, particularly children, succumb to preventable causes in the absence of food, medical access, and international protection. The ongoing denial of aid and targeting of essential infrastructure constitute grave breaches of international law and demand urgent global intervention.
On Saturday, Israeli forces carried out a devastating massacre against the Sultan family in the at-Twam area north of Gaza City, killing 27 civilians in a single airstrike that targeted their home without prior warning.
The slain Palestinians include:
- Ramez Nazmi Sultan (“Abu Wasim”) and his son Mohammed
- Sa’idd Nazmi Sultan (“Abu Ismail”), his wife, and children
- Ahmad Jamal Abu Sultan, his wife Rasha, and their five daughters
- Adham Nazmi Sultan (“Abu Al-Saeed”)
- Rajab Mohammad Sultan and his family
- Samer Jamal Abu Sultan, his wife Aseel Al-Jadaili, and their children Mohammed, Salma, Bana
- Hussam Jumaa, his wife Fida’ Al-Da’meh, and their children Joud and Mustafa
The airstrike leveled the family home, leaving no survivors among those present. No evacuation orders or warnings were issued prior to the attack.
This massacre is part of a broader pattern of systematic targeting of civilians and residential areas in Gaza, in violation of international humanitarian law and the protections afforded to non-combatants under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Israel has systematically bombed homes, residential towers, hospitals, and shelters in Gaza City, killing dozens of Palestinians and forcibly displacing thousands of others. This is what Israel has done in the past 24 hours alone. pic.twitter.com/JE3vqHj3XP
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) September 14, 2025
Philippe Lazzarini, who leads the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), stated that ten of the agency’s facilities in Gaza City have been struck within just four days. Among the damaged sites are several schools and clinics currently sheltering displaced families. Due to the ongoing bombardment, UNRWA was also forced to halt medical services at the Beach Camp clinic—the last operational health center north of Wadi Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army finalized preparations for a large-scale ground invasion of Gaza City, according to multiple Israeli media reports released Sunday evening.
Israeli Channel 11 stated that troops are ready to enter what is expected to be the most challenging phase of Operation “Chariots of Gideon 2,” aimed at seizing control of the city.
Israeli Channel 12 confirmed that the army’s readiness is complete and noted that Israeli estimates suggest approximately 350,000 residents have already fled Gaza City.
Meanwhile, Channel 13 reported that senior military officials have informed political leaders that the operation is unlikely to deliver a decisive victory over Hamas.
Security discussions have also addressed the potential deaths of Israeli captives—either as a result of the military offensive or actions by their captors.
Channel 12 added that the army is intensifying airstrikes on Gaza City to forcibly displace its remaining population under heavy bombardment.
Israeli intelligence agencies anticipate that Hamas will escalate efforts to capture Israeli soldiers during the ground incursion. While such attempts have occurred recently, officials expect a significant increase in these operations, raising concern among senior security figures.
Military sources have also warned that the campaign may last far longer than political leaders anticipate—possibly stretching over several months—with uncertain outcomes and risks to hostages throughout.
Updated From: Medical sources confirmed that more than 81 Palestinians were killed since dawn on Saturday, including 56 in Gaza City alone, with dozens more wounded. At the time of this report, hospitals in Gaza have said more than thirty-one Palestinians were killed, including 18 in Gaza city, and dozens injured, since dawn, Sunday.
At least four Palestinians were killed and many others injured when Israeli missiles struck tents sheltering displaced families in Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood.
Another Palestinian was killed, and several wounded, when a missile targeted a vehicle near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
One Palestinian was also killed and several others injured in an Israeli airstrike west of Gaza City.
In the Zeitoun neighborhood, southeast of the city, Israeli missiles and shells killed at least two Palestinians and wounded many others.
In Tal al-Hawa, south of Gaza City, at least seven Palestinians were killed and many more injured in similar attacks.
The Israeli army also ordered the displaced families, sheltering in school in Tal Al-Hawa to leave the area ahead of planned extensive bombing.
The army also fired several missiles at the Al-Kawthar residential tower in Rimal neighborhood, shortly after ordering the Palestinians to evaluate, and leveled the building.
Over the past 24 hours, Israeli forces detonated and destroyed 25 homes, the An-Nour residential tower, and the Public Prosecution building in Gaza City.
In central Gaza, six Palestinians, including two women, were killed and several others injured when a missile struck a tent in the western area of Deir al-Balah. In total, nine Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in central Gaza over the last 24 hours.
Furthermore, Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, has confirmed the death of a Palestinian from malnutrition, and added that Israeli forces injured more than twenty Palestinians around Street 8 in southern Gaza City.
In Khan Younis, southern Gaza, the army bombarded the Al-Amal neighborhood, killing at least three Palestinians and injuring many others. These deaths bring the total number of Palestinians killed in southern Gaza to nine in the past 24 hours.
Another Palestinian was killed by a missile from an Israeli drone in the center of Khan Younis city.
Israeli naval forces also fired a barrage of live rounds toward the shoreline of Khan Younis, attempting to forcibly displace families sheltering there.
In Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, four Palestinians were killed and at least 25 others injured while waiting near an aid distribution center in the city’s northern district.
In the last 24 hours alone, Israeli forces killed five Palestinians and injured at least 26 others near aid centers, raising the number of Palestinians slain while seeking food and humanitarian assistance to more than 2,484, with over 18,117 injured.
Additionally, seven Palestinians, including two children, died from malnutrition in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of such deaths to 420, including 120 children.
Since Israel violated the mediated ceasefire agreement on March 18, 2025, its military has killed at least 12,484 Palestinians and injured more than 52,117.
Israel has now killed at least 64,871 Palestinians, including at least 19,424 children, and injured more than 164,610, the majority of whom are children, women, and the elderly. Thousands remain missing, largely trapped beneath the rubble of bombed homes and buildings, in destroyed alleys and inaccessible areas, where medics and rescue teams are unable to reach due to the scale of destruction and ongoing bombardment across the Gaza Strip.
