A boy unfurls a Palestinian flag as people inspect for salvage the rubble of the Unknown Soldier Tower, after it was destroyed by overnight Israeli bombardment, in the Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City on September 15, 2025.AFP
Medical sources said that 28 people were killed since dawn, including 20 in Gaza City. The strikes once again targeted residential neighbourhoods, a day after Israeli forces hit high-rise towers and other buildings that were sheltering hundreds of displaced civilians.
According to Al Jazeera, the Israeli army demolished 16 buildings on Sunday, including four residential towers in Gaza City. Among them were the Unknown Soldier and Al-Kawthar towers in southern Rimal and the Mahna tower and Al-Rabee building in Tel Al-Hawa.
Ground incursions have also been reported on the edges of several neighbourhoods, including Al-Zaytoun in the southeast and Sheikh Radwan in the north.
The army said these operations are part of preparations for “Gideon’s Chariots 2,” a planned full-scale offensive to seize Gaza City.
'Hamas cannot be defeated'
Israeli Channel 12 reported on Sunday that Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir told government leaders that Hamas cannot be defeated militarily or politically, even if the army captures Gaza City.
His comments came during a security meeting chaired by Netanyahu to discuss the war and the fate of Israeli captives ahead of the planned ground assault.
He explained that his aim was to align expectations with the government regarding the results of the planned operation.
The chief of staff added that a final victory would require expanding operations into other areas of the strip, including the central refugee camps — a move he said would impose a civilian burden on Israel that the army is unwilling to shoulder.
Leaks published by Yedioth Ahronoth suggested that Zamir also accused Netanyahu of withholding details about the next phases of the war.
“The prime minister is not telling us what comes next. We don’t know what we are preparing for,” he reportedly told committee members in a closed briefing on Friday.
Zamir repeated concerns he had raised earlier in cabinet meetings: “If they want a military government, then they should say so clearly.”
UN buildings targeted
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said Israel struck 10 of the UN agency’s facilities in Gaza City over the past four days alone, including seven schools and two clinics currently serving as shelters for thousands of displaced Palestinians.
In a statement on X, Lazzarini warned that “there is no place and no one safe in Gaza City and the north,” noting that intensified bombardments are forcing more Palestinians into displacement “toward the unknown.”
He added that UNRWA was forced to suspend healthcare services at Al-Shati refugee camp, the only clinic north of Wadi Gaza, while essential water and sanitation services are now operating at just half capacity.
Since October 2023, Israel's genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 64,871 Palestinians and wounded 164,610, mostly women and children.
Hundreds of thousands have been displaced, while the famine declared by the UN has killed 422 people, including 145 children.
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