​al jazeera​​​


By Lyndal Rowlands
    Residents of Gaza City say they are being subjected to “heavy, relentless” bombardment amid reports that Israel’s military has begun its ground offensive to occupy the northern urban centre.
    Leaders from across the Arab and Islamic world have met in the Qatari capital, Doha, and condemned Israel’s “cowardly” attack on Qatar as well as its “genocide” in Gaza.
   United States President Donald Trump, speaking at the White House, has repeated his assertion that Israel will not be attacking Qatar again.
   Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 64,871 people and wounded 164,610 since October 2023. Thousands more are believed to be under the rubble. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7 attacks, and about 200 were taken captive.

UN envoy calls for end to ‘escalatory cycle’ between Israel, Houthis

    UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg has told the UN Security Council that hostilities between Israel and Yemen’s Houthis are intensifying against the backdrop of the war on Gaza.

    “We are seeing an alarming and dangerous intensification of hostilities between Ansar Allah and Israel,” he said, referring to the Houthis by their official name.

    The Yemeni rebel group has targeted Israel with drones and missiles, wounding civilians and impacting a civilian airport, while Israeli attacks on Yemen in August and September have killed Houthi officials as well as numerous civilians, he noted.

    “This escalatory cycle must end,” he said.

    Grundberg also condemned the Houthis’ detention of UN personnel in areas including Sanaa, saying it marked an “egregious escalation”. More than 40 staff remain in custody, he said, along with a colleague who died in detention.

    “That arbitrary detention of now 44 UN staff, the forcible entry of UN offices and the seizure of equipment – all of that undermines our ability to continue to deliver at scale in these locations,” he added.

How many people have fled Gaza City

    According to UN figures, about 1 million Palestinians were living in Gaza City before Israel began levelling high rises and ordering residents to flee south last month.

    Stephane Dujjaric, the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told reporters in New York that over the past few days alone, humanitarian groups on the ground have counted almost 70,000 people heading south, primarily to Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis.

    “In the past month, partners observed about 150,000 movements from north to south,” he said.

    “People are fleeing using the Al Rashid Road, which is the only route available for movement to the south and is extremely congested, to say the least,” he added.

    The Israeli military, meanwhile, has claimed that more than 320,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza City, including 20,000 overnight on Monday.

Luxembourg to recognise Palestinian statehood

    Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Luc Frieden and Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel have told a parliamentary commission that their country intends to recognise Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly this month.

    Bettel also said that he would propose a bill to parliament so that Luxembourg could take further measures, such as sanctions, Luxembourgish broadcaster RTL Letzebuerg reported on Monday.

    France and Saudi Arabia will co-host a meeting on Palestinian recognition during the UNGA on September 22 in New York.

    Australia, Canada, Belgium, and the United Kingdom have also said they plan to recognise Palestine at the meeting, although with conditions.

    As of April this year, some 147 countries, representing 75 percent of UN members, had already recognised Palestinian statehood.

‘Heavy, relentless bombing of Gaza City’

    As we’ve been reporting, Israeli forces have intensified their assault on Gaza City, with nonstop bombardment, artillery and drone attacks.

    A witness told the AFP news agency that there is “heavy, relentless bombing on Gaza City”, which has levelled homes and left people trapped under the rubble.

    “We can hear their screams,” said 25-year-old resident Ahmed Ghazal.

    The offensive comes after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Netanyahu in Jerusalem and backed the operation, according to news outlet Axios. It has prompted families of captives held in Gaza to launch protests outside Netanyahu’s official residence.