Gaza, September 17th 2025 – Attacks on Gaza City, Israel's most recent escalation of its genocide against the Palestinian people, are leaving entire families killed in their homes and hundreds of thousands more are being forcibly displaced as the city's neighborhoods are reduced to rubble, forcing Palestinians into uninhabitable areas.

Yesterday, Israeli warplanes launched heavy bombardments targeting three homes near the General Security area in Al Naser neighborhood, killing 23 Palestinians and injuring more than 40 others. Additional attacks targeted homes near Al Shawa Square, killing 12 and injuring 14, while 20 more were killed in attacks on homes in Al Daraj neighborhood. According to the Palestinian Civil Defense, dozens of Palestinians remain trapped beneath what remains of their destroyed homes.

Since the beginning of September 2025, 70 residential towers have been completely demolished, and 120 more have been severely damaged. Hundreds of tents, erected around these buildings by already displaced families, were also destroyed, leaving thousands of families without shelter and forcing them  towards western Gaza City and southern Gaza. Israeli forces have also deployed explosive-laden robots to demolish neighborhoods, notably in Al Zayton, Al Sabra, and Shekh Redwan. Israel is heavily bombarding different areas across the city and has deployed attack drones near residential areas in Al Naser, Sheikh Radwan, Tel Al Hawa, and the Al Shate refugee camp in western Gaza City. These attacks follow repeated Israeli military orders threatening Palestinians to flee south or be killed.

A displaced resident (A.G.) reported: “After long hours of waiting, gathering what little remained of our belongings, and in great urgency arranging what was left of our home, my family entered a small truck bound for a new displacement site in central Gaza. Al Rashid Street was our only hope, a narrow gateway out of the siege of fear. Yet after all that effort, the truck moved only a few hundred meters before coming to a complete stop in suffocating congestion that blocked the road. Hours of exhausting waiting followed, ending in a forced return to our starting point. It was as if displacement itself refused to grant us even a brief chance at survival. Imagine, after all the struggle and hope, we were not even able to reach central Gaza. It feels as though Gaza is condemned to an endless cycle, displacement without arrival, suffering without relief, and doors closed even to those fleeing death.”

These intensified attacks on multi-story residential buildings are part of Israel's plan to take over the city, in a severe escalation of the genocide. Relentless and deliberate attacks on Gaza City's residential areas have generated a state of fear and panic among Palestinians, causing thousands to escape towards southern Gaza, particularly to Mawasi Khan Younis. Most Palestinians feeling Gaza City are forced to walk on foot, as transportation remains largely unavailable due to the lack of fuel and, in rare instances were transportation was available, the cost of moving their belongings soared to nearly 1,000 USD. The extreme trauma of being forcibly displaced is compounded by the need to walk for hours on end while also experiencing famine, leading to severe exhaustion.

Isreal is currently trying to confine Gaza's entire population to so-called "humanitarian zones" in southern Gaza that amounts to only 12% of Gaza’s total area. As of 14 September, 82% of Gaza has been designated as military zones or placed under displacement orders. Al Mezan has previously warned that there are no empty spaces for Palestinians to go, as Israel's "humanitarian zones" are extremely overcrowded and uninhabitable. Even the most basic requirements for survival–space to erect a tent and access to water and food–are largely unavailable. As a result, hundreds of families who were initially displaced from Gaza City to designated areas have been forced to return.

In a testimony to Al Mezan, a resident (H.M.) said: “My family, consisting of six members, and I returned to Gaza City from Khan Younis, where I had been living in a tent during the temporary ceasefire at the beginning of this year, 2025. We rented a house after our home in the city was completely destroyed. Following repeated displacement orders from the Israeli forces demanding that we move to the south, I went on 24/8/2025 to the Mawasi area of Khan Younis, to a tent belonging to one of our relatives. I stayed there for two full days searching throughout the area for a place to set up my own tent, but I could not find one. The tents were packed tightly next to each other, making it barely possible to walk between them. Even the main roads were blocked with tents, leaving no space for another tent. I even went to the Khan Younis camp area, but I found the situation there extremely dangerous, as the Israeli forces were bombing anything that moved in the area. I returned to Gaza City not knowing where to go. I have now decided to remain in the rented house, and I asked some relatives to search for a place for me, even if it required payment, but no one has been able to find me a place so far, and I do not know what to do.”

Israel's plan to forcibly transfer the population of Gaza City and North Gaza to the south will subject Palestinians to conditions akin to mass internment camps, signalling a campaign of collective humiliation and systematic deprivation. Even under these conditions, Israeli forces continue to bombard and kill Palestinians, and refuse the entry of humanitarian aid to alleviate famine. These actions demonstrate a clear plan to uproot Palestinian residents of Gaza City and render the whole of Gaza uninhabitable by destroying residential areas and forcing Palestinians into inhumane living conditions. This campaign to make Gaza uninhabitable demonstrates an intentional existential threat to the lives of more than two million Palestinians in Gaza, and clearly constitutes genocide.

Al Mezan strongly condemns Israel’s mass killings in Gaza City, alongside the destruction of residential towers and buildings and the forcible displacement of Gaza’s population. These actions form part of Israel’s plan to uproot the residents of Gaza, impose new facts on the ground through harm to Palestinians, and render Gaza uninhabitable, a place of death and devastation. Al Mezan is concerned that these inhumane policies are intended to create create a state of total collapse, and stresses that these chaotic conditions can later be exploited by Israel and its allies as a pretext for imposing bad faith humanitarian solutions like the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Al Mezan warns that this grave escalation is the beginning of further large-scale destruction and the forcible displacement of Palestinians from their land.

We reiterate our call to the international community to take action against this intensifying humanitarian catastrophe and Israel's international crimes, foremost among them the crime of genocide and forcible displacement. Immediate and effective action must be taken to halt Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people and prevent the implementation of forced displacement plans, ensure unhindered access to humanitarian aid, and provide immediate protection for Palestinians in Gaza.