(17 Sep 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Southern Israel – 17 September 2025
1. Various of smoke plumes rising over Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel
STORYLINE:
Smoke plumes were seen from southern Israel rising over the Gaza Strip on Wednesday morning.
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza City on Tuesday, vowing to overwhelm a city already in ruins from nearly two years of war as thousands of Palestinians fled in vehicles strapped with mattresses and other belongings that clogged a coastal road.
The operation into the largest Palestinian city escalated a conflict that has roiled the Middle East and likely pushed any ceasefire with Hamas farther out of reach. The military would not offer a timeline for the offensive that aims to crush the militant group’s ability to fight, but Israeli media suggested it could take months.
“Gaza is burning,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared as the operation began. Heavy bombardment pounded the city, and troops began moving in from the outskirts after weeks of airstrikes and buildup toward the renewed assault.
The offensive began the same day that independent experts commissioned by the United Nations Human Rights Council accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel rejected the allegation, calling the report “distorted and false.”
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Forty-eight hostages, fewer than half believed to be alive, remain in Gaza.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 64,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, says women and children make up around half the dead.
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