Hamas has urged the United Nations and the wider international community to intervene immediately to stop Israel’s genocide in Gaza, as the Israeli army escalated its brutal assaults on Gaza City and elsewhere in the enclave.
At least 73 Palestinians, including several aid seekers, were killed in relentless Israeli bombardments across Gaza on Wednesday, among them 43 in Gaza City alone.
Entire families are being killed together in their tents and shelters as the Israeli forces are targeting densely populated areas in Gaza.
“My brother was killed, struck inside his room. They killed him with his wife and children; they erased them all. No one is left,” Sabreen al-Mabhuh, a displaced Palestinian, told Al Jazeera.
Israeli grenades have also ignited tents at schools sheltering displaced families in Sheikh Radwan, Reuters reported. “Sheikh Radwan is being burned upside-down,” resident Zakeya Sami said. “If the takeover of Gaza City isn’t stopped, we might die. We won’t forgive anyone who watches this and does nothing.”
Gaza’s media office says Israel has detonated at least 100 explosive-laden robots in Gaza City over the past three weeks to destroy entire residential blocks and neighbourhoods. About 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza City alone during Israel’s assault there since August 13.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, described the situation as apocalyptic. “It feels endless and all-consuming … entire neighbourhoods are being erased block by block,” he said. “People are losing everything they’ve built over decades. For many, this feels like a living nightmare.”
Hamas ready to accept a comprehensive ceasefire
In a statement on Wednesday, Hamas reiterated its readiness to accept a comprehensive Gaza ceasefire and release of all Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The group’s remarks come shortly after United States President Donald Trump called on Hamas to release the captives still held in Gaza. About 48 captives are believed to be still in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
Hamas slammed Israel for committing “horrific war crimes” with a strike on the al-Jarisi family home in northern Gaza City, which killed at least 10, calling it part of a systematic campaign to destroy Palestinian life.
The call came as Gaza’s Health Ministry reported six more deaths from “famine and malnutrition” in the past 24 hours, including a child. It said 367 Palestinians, 131 of them children, have died from hunger-related causes during Israel’s blockade, which continues to severely limit the entry of food and aid.
The Israeli operation to seize Gaza City will likely displace one million Palestinians, with most of the enclave’s 2.3 million people displaced multiple times. A spokesperson for UN chief Antonio Guterres on Wednesday said that more than 82,000 new cases of forced displacement were recorded in Gaza between August 14 and 31, including 30,000 people forced from north to south.
UNICEF has warned that 132,000 children under five are at risk of dying from acute malnutrition by mid-2026, adding up to over 320,000 Palestinian children facing severe hunger. “With famine at risk of spreading, children urgently need a mass influx of humanitarian aid – including specialised nutrition products,” the agency said on X.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification confirmed in August that famine conditions had gripped northern Gaza and were rapidly spreading south. Aid workers say the total Israeli blockade has turned basic survival into a daily struggle.
Abdullah Al-Arian, an associate professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, said Israel’s scorched-earth offensive shows it is waging genocide with “total impunity”. He noted that Palestinians are refusing evacuation orders due to exhaustion from repeated displacements and the absence of safe zones, which Israeli forces have systematically bombed.
Growing global outrage
Israel has rejected Hamas’s latest offer to end the Gaza war. In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office reiterated Israel’s stance that “the war can end immediately on the conditions set by the cabinet”, which include the release of all the Israeli captives being held in Gaza and the disarmament of Hamas.
Hamas has agreed to ceasefire proposals presented by the mediators, but it has refused to disarm until the Palestinian state is established as part of the so-called two-state solution. Qatar, which has mediated in the conflict, said that Israel has yet to agree to its latest ceasefire proposal, which was accepted by Hamas last month.
Israel’s campaign is drawing mounting international backlash. Several European countries, including France, Britain, Belgium, Canada and Australia, are expected to formally recognise a Palestinian state at the upcoming UN General Assembly later this month.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez slammed Europe’s response to the war on Wednesday as a “failure” that has damaged its credibility. “We can’t last longer if we want to be taken seriously on crises like Ukraine,” he said. Sanchez was the first European leader to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza as a genocide.
In Scotland, First Minister John Swinney announced his government will block funding to arms companies supplying Israel. “We will pause new awards of public money to arms companies whose products are linked to countries committing genocide. That will include Israel,” he said, urging London to suspend its trade agreement with Israel.
The UAE also issued a stark warning, saying Israel’s potential annexation of the occupied West Bank would cross a “red line” and undermine the Abraham Accords. “Our position has not changed since 2020: We support a Palestinian state,” said Lana Nusseibeh, a senior UAE diplomat.
This came as Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich unveiled a plan for Israel to annex nearly all of the occupied West Bank, urging Prime Minister Netanyahu to endorse it.
Meanwhile, Utrecht University in the Netherlands announced an academic boycott of Israeli institutions over “genocidal policies” in Gaza. Rector Wilco Hazeleger said the move reflects a moral obligation. “We will not start new collaborations with Israeli parties. A boycott is in place until further notice,” he said.
