The Latest: Israeli strikes pummel Gaza City as a new ground offensive gets underway

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Palestinian residents reported heavy strikes Tuesday across Gaza City and Israel’s defense minister said that “Gaza is burning” as a new Israeli ground offensive targeted the city.

Airstrikes have pounded Gaza City for some time in the lead-up to the operation, knocking down towers in the city.

Israeli strikes in Gaza City killed at least 69 Palestinians, according to hospitals in the territory.

“It was a heavy night,” said Radwan Hayder, a Gaza City resident sheltering near the hospital.

Here's the latest:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday President Donald Trump had invited him to visit on Sept. 29, after the Israeli leader addresses the United Nations General Assembly.

It will be Netanyahu’s fourth visit to the White House since Trump assumed office in January.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a U.N. news conference: “It looks like Israel is determined to go up to the end.”

With the recent Israeli strike targeting Hamas’ leaders in Qatar, he said, “it doesn’t look that Israel is interested in serious negotiations for ceasefire and the release of hostages.”

The U.N. chief pointed to the systematic destruction of Gaza City taking place now, “dramatic obstacles” to distributing aid every day, and “massive killing of civilians in a way” that he hasn’t seen since he became secretary-general in 2017.

He said what is happening in Gaza is a violation of international law, but a determination of genocide can only be made by the U.N.’s highest court.

The secretary-general said he would be “delighted” to meet the Israeli prime minister during next week’s gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly. If a meeting happens, Guterres said, he will inform the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu last November, alleging crimes against humanity.

Families of the hostages still being held in Gaza gathered outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence overnight, begging him to stop the offensive.

Israel believes around 20 of the hostages are alive. Hamas has said it will only free remaining captives in return for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has stopped short of agreeing with the United Nations commission that determined Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

But Guterres says the situation on the ground is intolerable and it “doesn’t look like Israel is interested in a serious negotiation for a ceasefire.”

The Israeli military said it was working to intercept the projectile, which was fired after Israel had earlier carried out airstrikes on the rebel-held port city of Hodeida in Yemen.

The Houthis have regularly fired drones and missiles at Israel, in what they say is solidarity with the Palestinians. The vast majority have been intercepted or landed in open areas without causing casualties or damage. Israel has carried out waves of retaliatory strikes on Yemen.

This comes as Israel’s ground offensive targeting Gaza City begins.

“We’re going to see what happens, because I hear Hamas is trying to use the old human shield deal,” U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday as he prepared to head to the United Kingdom. “And if they do that, they’re going to be in big trouble.”

Trump, in a Monday post on his Truth Social platform, said that he had read a news report indicating that Hamas would use the captives as “human shields.”

Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels said they activated air defenses after Israel launched strikes Tuesday.

“Our air defenses are currently confronting the Israeli aircrafts that are launching an aggression against our country,” Houthi military spokesperson Yayha Saree posted on X.

Israel’s military earlier Tuesday urged residents of the port city of Hodeida to evacuate ahead of the strike.

Qatar said Tuesday its ruling emir spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio about defense cooperation and the “consequences of the Israeli attack on Doha.”

Majed al-Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, gave the readout of the talks between Rubio and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

The two men also spoke about mediation efforts to reach a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, he added. However, al-Ansari harshly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the attack last week on Doha that killed six people.

“If Prime Minister Netanyahu wants peace, he knew the road to peace a long time ago. He just decided not to go through it, and he decided to mediate in bad fate,” al-Ansari said. “And therefore, the questions about the fate of their mediation should be asked of he who is bombing the mediators and those who he is talking with on the negotiating table.”

Israel’s military said Tuesday it will launch airstrikes on Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen’s port city of Hodeida.

Military spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee urged residents in the city to evacuate ahead of the attack, which he said will occur in the coming hours. Hodeida is controlled by the Houthis, who have launched missiles and drones toward Israel and targeted ships in the Red Sea for over 22 months of the war in Gaza.

“For your safety, we urge all those present at the Port of Hodeidah and the ships anchored there to evacuate the area immediately,” Adraee wrote on social media.

The European Union urged Israel on Tuesday to halt its ground invasion of northern Gaza as the 27-nation bloc seems poised to increase pressure on the country.

“Military intervention will lead to more destruction, more death and more displacements,” said Anouar El Anouni, a spokesperson for the European Commission. “This will also aggravate the already catastrophic humanitarian situation and also and dangerous the lives of hostages.”

On Wednesday, the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas will present to national representatives proposals to ratchet up pressure on Israel over its military campaign in Gaza.

Last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she will seek approval from EU nations for new sanctions against far-right Israeli extremists and a partial suspension of a trade agreement with Israel. She also said she will freeze millions of euros given by the EU’s executive branch to Israel, which would not require the approval of all member countries.

The British government has called Israel’s new offensive in Gaza “utterly reckless and appalling.”

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper wrote on X that the assault on Gaza City “will only bring more bloodshed, kill more innocent civilians & endanger the remaining hostages.”

She added: “We need an immediate ceasefire, all hostages released, unrestricted humanitarian aid and a path to lasting peace.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered his thanks Tuesday to Qatar for its work on mediating the Israel-Hamas war, his office said, after an Israeli strike targeted Hamas leaders in Doha.

A statement from his office did not directly acknowledge Israel’s strike last week that killed six people.

Instead, it said Rubio acknowledged the strong ties between Qatar and the U.S.

Rubio “thanked Qatar for its efforts to end the war in Gaza and bring all hostages home,” the statement said. Rubio “reiterated America’s strong support for Qatar’s security and sovereignty and discussed our shared commitment to a safer, more stable region.”

Qatar offered no immediate readout from the meeting, which came as Israel launched a new ground offensive targeting Gaza City.

The U.N. Human Rights Council is holding a debate in which a string of countries are denouncing last week’s Israeli strike in Doha that killed five Hamas members and a local security official.

Qatar’s minister of state for international cooperation, Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al Misnad, told delegates in Geneva on Tuesday that the attack “constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law by targeting a purely civilian area.”

She added that “targeting the mediating state is targeting the principle of negotiation itself.”

The council’s president said Israel’s delegation wasn’t in the room as it heard statements from the countries concerned.

Israeli Ambassador Daniel Meron told reporters before the debate that the council has been “serving as a platform for anti-Israel propaganda while ignoring the brutal realities on the ground and the atrocities committed by Hamas.”

Long lines of traffic stretched down the coastal road on Tuesday as tens of thousands of Palestinians attempted to leave northern Gaza after Israel said it had begun its ground operation in Gaza City.

Vehicles laden with belongings, with mattresses strapped to every available surface, crawled along the road while others made their way on foot down the coast.

The U.N. estimates some 220,000 Palestinians have fled northern Gaza, including more than 70,000 in the past few days, ahead of the operation.

Approximately 1 million Palestinians were in the Gaza City region before the most recent operation.

Marco Rubio has boarded his plane to leave Qatar.

The U.S. secretary of state said goodbye to Qatari and U.S. officials on the tarmac before climbing the stairs to his airplane.

He turned back, waved, gave a thumbs up and then put his hand over his heart before boarding the plane.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi described Israel as “an enemy” in a fiery speech at the Qatar summit Monday.

It was the first time an Egyptian leader used the term since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1979, said Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt's State Information Service.

“Egypt is being threatened,” Rashwan told the state-run Extra News television late Monday.

El-Sissi’s “enemy” comment played prominently across Egyptian newspapers’ front pages on Tuesday and while Cairo has taken no steps to change its status with Israel, the Egyptian government likely is trying to signal just how seriously it takes Israel’s recent actions.

Marco Rubio met Tuesday with Qatar’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Rubio shook hands with both Sheikh Tamim and Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, before starting the meeting.

A team of independent experts commissioned by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, in a report Tuesday that calls on the international community to end the genocide and take steps to punish those responsible for it.

The deeply-documented findings by the three-member team are the latest accusations of genocide against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government by rights advocates as Israeli carries on with its war against Hamas in Gaza.

Israel rejected what it called a “distorted and false” report.

While neither the commission nor the 47-member-country council that it works for within the U.N. system can take action against a country, the findings could be used by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court or the U.N.’s International Court of Justice.

The team was commissioned by the Human Rights Council, the U.N.’s top human rights body, but it does not speak for the United Nations.

The Israeli military announced Tuesday that its expanded operation in Gaza City “to destroy Hamas’ military infrastructure” has begun and warned residents to move south.

Israel’s Arabic language spokesperson Avichay Adraee announced the expansion of Israel’s operation on X, after a night of heavy strikes against northern Gaza that killed at least 20 people.

Israel has been warning the famine-stricken Gaza City residents to evacuate for the past month ahead of the operation but many have said they are unable to evacuate due to overcrowding in Gaza’s south and the high price of transport.

Marco Rubio arrived Tuesday in Qatar for a visit after Israel attacked Hamas leaders there.

Rubio’s plane landed Tuesday morning in Doha, where he was expected to meet with the country’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Qatar hosted a summit Monday that saw Arab and Islamic countries denounce Israel over the attack last week that killed six people.

But leaders offered different views about what to do, and the group agreed to take only minimal action.

Spain summoned Israel’s acting ambassador in Madrid Tuesday for the second time in less than a week over comments made the day before by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar toward Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

On Monday, Sánchez called for Israel to be banned from international sporting events over its actions in Gaza.

Saar responded on X by calling the Spanish leader an “antisemite and a liar.”

Spain has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.

On Sunday, thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters in Madrid disrupted the final leg of a top cycling event because an Israeli team was taking part, which caused the race’s finale to be cancelled.

Shifa Hospital in Gaza City received the bodies of 12 people who were killed in a strike that hit multiple houses in the western part of the city, said Dr. Rami Mhanna, managing director of the hospital.

He told The Associated Press that more than 90 injured also arrived at the facility in the past six hours.

He said first responders reported that many casualties are still under the rubble in multiple areas, and that the death toll is likely to increase.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking to journalists while leaving Israel for Qatar, acknowledged the start of operations in Gaza City and stressed the need for an immediate end to the conflict that eliminates Hamas.

“The Israelis have begun to take operations there. So we think we have a very short window of time in which a deal can happen,” Rubio said. “We don’t have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks to go.”

Rubio said a deal would need to include the release of hostages and the demilitarization and disarmament of Hamas.

Rubio plans to visit Qatar on Tuesday after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a day earlier in Israel, where they showed a unified front in the face of international anger over Israel’s airstrikes on Hamas leaders in Qatar and its bombardment of Gaza City.

The Trump administration appears keen to ease tensions between its two close allies, following Israel’s strike in Doha last week.