Jerusalem, 16 September, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israel confirmed launching its long-anticipated ground offensive in Gaza City, Hamas’ last stronghold, on Tuesday.
“Gaza City is considered a dangerous combat zone, and staying in the area puts you at risk,” the Israel Defense Forces’ Arabic-language spokesperson, Col. Avichay Adraee, tweeted. He urged residents to move south, noting that “more than 40% of the city’s residents have already left.”
Said Defense Minister Israel Katz, “Gaza is burning. The [Israel military] is striking with an iron fist at the terrorist infrastructure, and soldiers are fighting heroically to create the conditions for the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas,” he said. “We will not relent and we will not go back — until the completion of the mission.”
In recent days, the IDF struck multiple high-rises, claiming Hamas used the buildings for observation posts and planning attacks.
Amid the escalation, families of hostages gathered outside Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu’s residence, demanding an end to the Gaza City operation. Some families pitched tents outside the residence, staying overnight in protest.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held in Gaza, said, “I have one interest — for this country to wake up and bring back my child along with 47 other hostages, both living and deceased, and to bring our soldiers home. If he stops at nothing and sends our precious, brave, heroic soldiers to fight while our hostages are being used as human shields — he is not a worthy prime minister.”
The offensive coincided with the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for talks with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Rubio departed for Qatar on Tuesday morning, where he plans to meet officials angered by an Israeli strike last week that killed five Hamas members and a local security official in Doha.
“We think we have a very short window of time in which a deal can happen. We don’t have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks so it’s a key moment — an important moment,” Rubio told reporters before his departure. He emphasized that a negotiated settlement remains the U.S. preference. “The only thing worse than a war is a protracted one that goes on forever and ever. At some point, this has to end. At some point, Hamas has to be defanged, and we hope it can happen through a negotiation. But I think time, unfortunately, is running out.”
Katz and military officials, however, remained resolute, insisting that the ground offensive will weaken Hamas, facilitating conditions for the release of the hostages.
“We will not relent and we will not go back — until the completion of the mission,” he said, reinforcing the government’s determination to continue the offensive despite mounting civilian displacement and international scrutiny.
Approximately 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 48 remaining hostages, about 20 are believed to be alive.
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