At least 32 people were killed overnight in fresh Israeli airstrikes across Gaza, health workers said, as global calls for a ceasefire grow louder – but Israel’s leader has signalled he will keep pushing ahead.
The heaviest blows hit homes in central and northern Gaza in the early hours of Saturday. Staff at Al-Awda hospital said nine members of one family died when their house in the Nuseirat refugee camp was struck. In Gaza City’s Tufah neighbourhood a separate strike flattened a home and left at least 11 dead, more than half of them women and children, Al-Ahly hospital reported. Shifa hospital said four people were killed when their house in the Shati camp was hit.
Those attacks came just hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the UN General Assembly and said Israel must “finish the job” against Hamas. His speech drew a sharp reaction: dozens of delegates walked out of the hall as he began speaking, underlining growing international frustration with the campaign in Gaza.
Pressure on Israel to stop the fighting has been rising. Several countries have recently moved to recognise a Palestinian state, and world leaders have been urging the United States to press for a pause in the violence. On Friday, US President Donald Trump told reporters he believed a deal that would “get the hostages back” and “end the war” was close. He and Mr Netanyahu are due to meet on Monday, and Mr Trump said talks with regional partners were “intense” and “productive.”
Even as diplomacy moves forward, Israeli forces are continuing a major ground push into Gaza City. Aid groups and analysts say parts of the city are facing severe food shortages. More than 300,000 people have left Gaza City, but up to 700,000 remain – many because they can’t afford to leave or have nowhere safe to go.
Medical services are under enormous strain. In the latest phase of the offensive, two clinics were destroyed and two hospitals were forced to close after damage. The hospitals still open are short of medicine, fuel and basic supplies, and many staff and patients have fled. That has left only a handful of doctors and nurses to care for the most vulnerable, including babies in incubators.
Doctors Without Borders said it had to suspend operations in Gaza City after Israeli tanks came within half a mile of its facilities, creating what the group called an “unacceptable level of risk” for its teams.
Humanitarian access has also been hit. The UN’s coordination office said Israel has stopped aid deliveries through the northern crossing since September 12 and has increasingly denied UN requests to move supplies from the south into the north, worsening food shortages.
The Gaza Health Ministry – which is run by the Hamas-led authority but whose casualty figures are widely used by UN agencies and independent experts – says the campaign has killed more than 65,000 people and wounded over 167,000. The ministry does not separate civilians from combatants and says roughly half the dead are women and children.
The current fighting traces back to the Hamas-led assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and left 251 taken hostage. Around 48 captives remain in Gaza; Israel says about 20 of them are believed to still be alive.
As the conflict continues, families on both sides are left waiting – for safety, for news about loved ones, and for any sign that the violence might stop.