Israel attacks the city of Gaza with “unprecedented strength” and tens of thousands flee

Israeli forces kill at least 43 people in Gaza since dawn, while the number of deaths from man’s hunger rises to 441.

Israel is attacking the city of Gaza with some of the heaviest attacks in two years of war, according to witnesses, as it advances with an offensive to take the largest urban center in the territory.

Avichay Adraee, a spokesman in Israeli Army Arabic, warned the besieged population of the city of Gaza on Friday that she would mobilize an “unprecedented strength” and told them to “take this opportunity and join the hundreds of thousands” that move south through the al-R-rash coastal road-now the only allowed escape route.

The Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza reported that about 450,000 people have fled the area since Israel began operations in August. About one million people lived in the city of Gaza at the time.

Tareq Abu Azzoum, from Al Jazeera, described “distressing” accounts of the city of Gaza on Friday, with people forced to go west, towards the coastal road, unable to rest due to the ruthless pace of attacks aimed at building buildings and infrastructure.

“This current military operation is completely destroying whole blocks, and there are still families trapped under the rubble of the attacked houses, particularly in the neighborhood of Al-Hawa,” said Abu Azzoum, reporting from Nusirat in downtown Gaza.

Although a growing number of Palestinians now want to leave, despite the previous resistance, many cannot afford the cost of renting a vehicle to bring household items and furniture to the overcrowded area of ​​Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza.

Still, Abu Azzoum said hundreds boarded the long journey, many on foot, to Al-Mawasi, who was already attacked by Israel in the past, although he was designated as a “safe zone.”

‘Crawling from exhaustion’

Nivin Ahmed, 50, fled from the city of Gaza to the south on Thursday in the central city of Deir El-Balah, walking with seven family members.

“We walked over 15 km. We were crawling with exhaustion,” she told AFP news agency. “My younger son cried with tiredness. We took turns dragging a cart with some of our belongings.”

Osama Awad, a Palestinian dislocated in the city of Gaza, said that people there experienced “nights of horror” for a whole week due to Israel’s attack.

“The bombings and bombs are approaching. F-16 bombing and aircraft are attacking here and there, hitting homes near the beach, and ships [militares israelenses] At sea they are attacking all directions, ”he said.

Israeli forces killed 43 people throughout the track on Friday, including 26 people in the city of Gaza alone, according to medical sources.

Three civilians were killed in an Israeli air strike that targeted a residential house in such al-hawa, in the city of Gaza, near the Netzarim corridor, sources told Al Jazeera.

The death toll on Friday also includes two help requestrs who were killed by the Israeli Army in southern Gaza.

Palestinians displaced in a community kitchen in Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, on September 19, 2025 | AFP

‘Dangerous Situation’

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that “the suffering of the Palestinian people cannot be described.”

“It’s the worst level of death and destruction I’ve ever seen as secretary general, probably in my life-hunger, total lack of effective medical assistance, people living without adequate shelters in huge areas of concentration,” he told AFP.

A medical source at Al-AQSA Hospital of Martyrs in downtown Gaza told Al Jazeera that a nine-year-old child died of severe malnutrition in the hospital’s pediatric wing amid growing hunger at the enclave.

The most recent case raises the total number of deaths caused by man’s hunger in Israel to 441 since the beginning of the war in Gaza, according to data from the Ministry of Health of Gaza.

Hospitals are having difficulty dealing with the lack of fuel after entering the track for more than 10 days, according to Amjad Shawa, head of the Palestinian NGO network in Gaza.

He said that the fuel supply at the besieged enclave will only last 72 hours, which hasties a “dangerous situation at all levels.”

The Israel War in Gaza has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians and injured 165,925 since October 2023. Thousands of others are believed to be buried under the rubble. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7 attacks, and about 200 hostages.

Originally published by Al Jazeera on 19/09/2025

By Lorraine Mallinder e News Agencies