Overview

• The Israeli military said it has entered the “main” phase of operations in Gaza City, advancing toward the center and targeting an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 Hamas fighters.
• Overnight airstrikes flattened residential blocks, with Gaza’s civil defense reporting 17 deaths early Tuesday after 49 were recorded Monday, figures that could not be independently verified.
• Defense Minister Israel Katz declared that “Gaza burns” and vowed to keep striking Hamas infrastructure to create conditions for hostage releases and the group’s defeat.
• U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Israeli leaders, reaffirmed “unwavering” support, warned of only days to reach a truce, and traveled to Doha to reassure Qatar after Israel’s Sept. 9 strike there.
• An independent UN inquiry asserted that a genocide is occurring in Gaza, a finding Israel rejected, as Arab and Muslim leaders meeting in Doha called for reviewing diplomatic and economic ties with Israel.