UN tells Israel 'stop the carnage' as Gaza City ground assault begins

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Japan will not recognise a Palestinian state for the time being, and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will skip a relevant meeting during the United Nations General Assembly this month, the Asahi newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed government sources.

Japan's stance would run counter to moves to recognise a Palestinian state by France, Britain and Canada, its Group of Seven peers, as well as Australia.

The stance aligns Japan with the United States, Israel's closest ally, which has rejected the idea of recognising a Palestinian state. Within the G7, German and Italian officials have called an immediate recognition of Palestine "counterproductive". 

In a series of raids across the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces detained at least 40 Palestinians, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society revealed.

The organisation added that three Palestinians have since been released in Qalqilya, while Israeli soldiers brought a female detainee with them during a raid on her apartment in Ramallah, where they also detained her husband before releasing him.

France's foreign ministry urged Israel on Tuesday to stop its "destructive campaign" in Gaza City, after Israeli troops launched a long-anticipated ground offensive in the Palestinian territory's main city.

"France calls on Israel to end this destructive campaign, which no longer has any military logic, and to resume negotiations as soon as possible," the ministry said in a statement.

Israel has presented Syria with a detailed proposal for a new security agreement, Axios reported on Tuesday, citing two sources familiar.

The Israeli proposal is based on Israel's 1979 peace agreement with Egypt, according to the Axios report.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said US President Donald Trump invited him to the White House in two weeks, after his speech at the UN.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that a strike against Hamas leaders in Qatar last week was "justified" by the Gulf state's ties to the group.

"Qatar is connected to Hamas, it harbours Hamas, it funds Hamas. It has strong levers (that it could pull), but it chose not to," he said during a press conference. "Therefore our action was entirely justified."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he would meet with US President Donald Trump later this month after addressing the UN General Assembly.

"Trump invited me to the White House. I will meet with him... after my speech at the UN," Netanyahu said at a press conference.

Spain's King Felipe VI on Tuesday denounced the "unspeakable suffering" of hundreds of thousands of Gazans under Israeli bombardment in the Palestinian territory, in a rare political intervention.

"The latest episode in this conflict... has degenerated into an unbearable humanitarian crisis, the unspeakable suffering of hundreds of thousands of innocent people and the total devastation of Gaza," the monarch said during a visit to Egypt.

Felipe, who rarely speaks out on international issues, noted his trip "is taking place at a turbulent and tragic time for the region".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that if there was one lesson learned from the 7 October attacks, it was that Israel needs to create an "independent weapons industry" that can "withstand international constraints".

Syria's foreign ministry said Damascus and Washington were working to reach security understandings with Israel as part of a roadmap for stability announced earlier Tuesday with US and Jordanian support for violence-hit Sweida province.

"The United States, in consultation with the Syrian government, will work to reach security understandings with Israel concerning southern Syria that address the legitimate security concerns of both Syria and Israel while emphasising Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the foreign ministry said in a statement outlining the roadmap.

The United Nations and a long line of countries on Tuesday denounced Israel's attack on Qatar last week, decrying a "dangerous escalation" and demanding "accountability".

That strike "was a shocking breach of international law", UN rights chief Volker Turk said during an urgent debate at the UN Human Rights Council about the strike.

Denouncing the attack as "an assault on regional peace and stability", he urged "accountability for unlawful killings".

Israel is determined to "go up to the end" in its Gaza military campaign and is not open to serious peace talks, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday.

"Israel is determined to go up to the end and (is) not open to a serious negotiation for a ceasefire, with dramatic consequences from Israel's point of view," he said.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday said what is happening in Gaza is horrendous and that the war in the Palestinian territory is morally, politically and legally intolerable.

Guterres also said he would be willing to meet with Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump at the UN next week.

The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen on Tuesday following sirens that sounded in Jerusalem, hours after Israel struck Yemen's rebel-held port of Hodeida.

"Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted," a military statement said.

More than 10,000 children need treatment for acute malnutrition in Gaza City, where the Israeli army launched a major ground offensive on Tuesday, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported.

"The forced and massive displacement of families from Gaza City is a deadly threat to the most vulnerable," said Tess Ingram, a UNICEF spokeswoman in southern Gaza's Al-Mawasi zone.

Speaking to journalists at a televised UN press briefing in Geneva, Ingram warned of worsening rates of child malnutrition.

"We estimate that 26,000 children in the Gaza Strip currently require treatment for acute malnutrition, including more than 10,000 in Gaza City alone," she said.

She explained that in August, more than one in eight children examined in the Gaza Strip suffered from acute malnutrition, "the highest level ever recorded".

In Gaza City, that figure was one in five.

Nutrition centres in Gaza City have been "forced to shut this week due to evacuation orders and the military escalation", Ingram added.

Israel on Tuesday urged European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to withdraw a proposal that would curb trade ties in a bid to pressure Israel to end the war in Gaza.

"Pressure through sanctions will not work," Foreign Minister Gideon Saar wrote in a letter to Von der Leyen.

"This unprecedented proposal, which has never been applied to any other country, is a clear attempt to harm Israel while we are still fighting a war imposed on us by the October 7 terror attack," Saar wrote, referring to the Hamas-led assault on Israel that triggered the now two-year war.

He added that Israel had not been notified or consulted and warned the measures would "empower Hamas" and "jeopardise efforts to end the war".

The initiative, announced during her State of the Union speech last week, is due to be discussed Wednesday by the European Commission's College of Commissioners, which she chairs.

If approved, it would freeze the EU's bilateral support to Israel, halting all payments, while preserving cooperation with civil society groups and Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.

According to the commission, the move would block future allocations of about six million euros ($7 million) annually and suspend disbursement of roughly 14 million euros for ongoing institutional projects.

Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said the strike on Yemen’s Hodeidah port was intended to uphold Israel’s naval and air blockade on the Houthis, warning the group will “pay a heavy price for any attempt to attack the State of Israel.”

Syrian government forces have withdrawn heavy weapons from the country's south, where neighbouring Israel has demanded a demilitarised zone, a military official told news agency AFP on Tuesday.

"Syrian forces have withdrawn their heavy weapons from southern Syria," the official said on condition of anonymity, adding the process began around two months ago after deadly sectarian violence in Druze-majority Sweida province.

Israel, which has its own Druze community, bombed Syria during the violence, saying it was acting to defend the minority group as well as to enforce its demands for the demilitarisation of southern Syria.

Sweden has joined international condemnation of Israel’s expanded ground assault on Gaza City.

In a post on X, Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said her government was "deeply critical of the intensified military offensive in Gaza," warning it was worsening an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis and causing mass civilian displacement in violation of international law.

She added that the escalation underscored the urgency of increasing pressure on Israel, urging the EU to advance proposals to freeze the trade component of its association agreement with Israel and to impose sanctions on extremist Israeli ministers.

Full translated post from Swedish to English:

"We are deeply critical of the intensified military offensive in Gaza that is now being carried out. The offensive exacerbates an already catastrophic humanitarian situation and leads to widespread forced displacements of the civilian population, which violates international law. The development makes it even more urgent to increase pressure on Israel and for the EU to move forward as soon as possible with the proposals that, among others, Sweden has pushed for and called for: a freeze on the trade component of the association agreement and sanctions against extremist Israeli ministers."

Vi är djupt kritiska till den intensifierade militära offensiven i Gaza som nu verkställs.

Offensiven förvärrar en redan katastrofal humanitär situation och leder till omfattande tvångsförflyttningar av civilbefolkningen som strider mot folkrätten.

Utvecklingen gör det än mer…

— Maria M Stenergard (@MariaStenergard) September 16, 2025

The Israeli military said it had issued an evacuation order on Tuesday for Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeidah, and would attack the area in the coming hours.

The Houthis, a political and military group who control the most populous parts of Yemen, have attacked vessels in the Red Sea in what they describe as acts of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

They have also fired missiles towards Israel, most of which have been intercepted. Israel has responded with strikes on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, including the vital port.

On Tuesday morning, Israel had unleashed a long-threatened ground assault on Gaza City, declaring "Gaza is burning" as Palestinians there described the most intense bombardment they had faced in two years of war.

Israeli human rights groups have urged officials to withdraw mass evacuation orders for Gaza City, warning they amount to forced displacement, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes.

According to Haaretz, organisations including the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), Physicians for Human Rights, Gisha, and Adalah – the Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel – condemned the threats as an attempt to “displace an exhausted and starving population with nowhere to flee.”

The groups stressed the orders are “not based on military necessity,” violate international law, and must be rejected.

Syrian foreign minister Asaad al-Shibani announced on Tuesday a plan backed by Jordan and the United States to restore calm to Druze-majority Suweida province, which witnessed deadly violence in July.

"The Syrian government has laid out a clear roadmap for action... that supports justice and builds trust," Shaibani said in a press conference, adding that the plan involves "holding accountable" those who attacked civilians, "compensating those affected", and "launching a process of internal reconciliation".

Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi, present at the event with US envoy Tom Barrack, said a "joint Syrian-Jordanian-American mechanism" would ensure the plan's implementation.

The European Union warned Tuesday that Israel's ground assault on Gaza City will add to the toll of death and destruction, and worsen an already "catastrophic" humanitarian situation in the territory.

"The EU has consistently urged Israel not to intensify its operation in Gaza City," EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni said.

"A military intervention will lead to more destruction, more death and more displacement, and we have been clear that this will also aggravate the already catastrophic humanitarian situation and also endangers the lives of hostages," he said.

Brussels is expected Wednesday to put forward proposals for a raft of measures against Israel over the war in Gaza.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said last week they would include suspending the trade parts of a cooperation agreement and sanctioning "extremist" Israeli ministers.

The Israeli military has warned it will launch an attack on Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodeidah “within hours.”

“Anyone who remains in the area is endangering their life,” an army spokesperson said in a post on X.

 The U.N. Human Rights Chief called on Israel to immediately stop its ground assault on Gaza City that got underway on Tuesday, saying that evidence was mounting of war crimes, crimes against humanity and possibly more.

"I can only think of what it means for women, for malnourished children, for people with disabilities, if they are again attacked in this way. And I have to say the only response to this is: stop the carnage," Volker Turk told reporters in Geneva.

"Palestinians, Israelis scream for peace. Everyone wants an end to this, and what we see is a further escalation which is totally and utterly unacceptable," he added. 

British foreign minister Yvette Cooper on Tuesday condemned Israel's ground assault on Gaza City as "utterly reckless and appalling", calling instead for an immediate ceasefire.

"It will only bring more bloodshed, kill more innocent civilians and endanger the remaining hostages," she said in a post on X.

The new IDF assault on Gaza is utterly reckless and appalling.

It will only bring more bloodshed, kill more innocent civilians & endanger the remaining hostages.

We need an immediate ceasefire, all hostages released, unrestricted humanitarian aid and a path to lasting peace.

— Yvette Cooper (@YvetteCooperMP) September 16, 2025

Germany on Tuesday slammed Israel's ground assault on Gaza City as "completely wrong", urging instead talks towards a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

"The renewed offensive towards Gaza City is... the completely wrong path," said Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul. "We reject this and have made this clear to the Israeli government."

The board of Spanish state broadcaster RTVE has voted on Tuesday to withdraw from next year's edition of the Eurovision Song Contest if Israel takes part in the event, the broadcaster said.

Spain is the fifth country doing so after the Netherlands, Slovenia, Iceland and Ireland. 

A shipowner wanted over a 2020 blast at Beirut port that killed more than 220 people has been arrested in Bulgaria, officials said Tuesday.

Igor Grechushkin is one of three people wanted by Interpol and linked to a shipment of ammonium nitrate that exploded at the port, injuring over 6,500 people and ravaging swathes of the Lebanese capital.

The August 4, 2020 disaster was one of the world's largest non-nuclear explosions.

Beirut authorities identified Grechushkin, a 48-year-old Russian-Cypriot citizen, as the owner of the Rhosus, the ship that transported the ammonium nitrate.

"He has been placed in detention for a maximum duration of 40 days by a court decision on September 7, confirmed on appeal," a Sofia city court spokeswoman told AFP news agency.

The authorities requesting extradition have 40 days to send the necessary documents to effect such a move, according to Bulgarian law.

Grechushkin was held on an Interpol red notice at Sofia airport on September 5 upon his arrival from Paphos in Cyprus, a Bulgarian judicial source confirmed to AFP.

The Rhosus, a Moldovan-flagged cargo ship sailing from Georgia and bound for Mozambique, is widely understood to have brought the fertiliser to Beirut in 2013.

After it arrived in Lebanon, the Rhosus faced "technical problems", and security officials said it was impounded after a Lebanese company filed a lawsuit against its owner.

Port authorities unloaded the ammonium nitrate and stored it in a run-down port warehouse with cracks in its walls, according to officials.

The Rhosus sank in Beirut port in 2018.

Hundreds attended funeral services Tuesday in Yemen for 31 local journalists who were reported killed in Israeli airstrikes last week that targeted Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the capital of Sanaa.

The strikes last Wednesday followed a drone launched by the Houthis that breached Israel’s multilayered air defenses and slammed into a southern Israeli airport, blowing out glass windows and injuring one person.

In Yemen, dozens were reported killed, including the journalists, in the strikes that hit Sanaa, including residential areas, a military headquarters and a fuel station, according to the health ministry in the rebel-held northern part of Yemen.

The National Museum of Yemen was also damaged in Sanaa, according to the rebels’ culture ministry, with footage from the site showings damage to the building’s façade. A government facility in the city of Hazm, the capital of northern Jawf province, was also hit.

Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV broadcast the funerals Tuesday, showing dozens inside a mosque and the caskets being carried ahead of the burial.

The Israeli military launched a ground assault on Gaza City overnight Tuesday, with troops advancing into the centre of Gaza's largest urban hub, a military official told journalists.

"We are moving towards the centre" of Gaza City, he said. When asked whether troops had moved deeper into central Gaza City he replied: "Yes."

"Last night, we transitioned into the next phase, the main phase of the plan for Gaza City... IDF (military) southern command forces have expanded ground activity into Hamas's main stronghold in Gaza, which is Gaza City," he said.

Israel on Tuesday said it "categorically rejects" a probe by UN investigators which determined that Israel has since October 2023 been committing "genocide" in Gaza.

"Israel categorically rejects this distorted and false report and calls for the immediate abolition of this Commission of Inquiry," a statement from the foreign ministry said.

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI), which does not speak on behalf of the world body, found that "genocide is occurring in Gaza and is continuing to occur", commission chief Navi Pillay announced.

The investigators concluded that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with President Isaac Herzog and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, have "incited the commission of genocide" in the Palestinian territory.

The Israeli foreign ministry accused the authors of the report of "serving as Hamas proxies", saying they were "notorious for their openly antisemitic positions".

"The report relies entirely on Hamas falsehoods, laundered and repeated by others," it added.

The Israeli military has ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate, warning the city is a “dangerous combat zone.”

In a statement on X, a spokesperson said the army had “begun destroying Hamas’s infrastructure in Gaza City.”

Civilians were told to leave “as quickly as possible via Al-Rashid Street to areas designated south of the Gaza Valley, by vehicle or on foot.”

However, conditions in the so-called “safe zones” in southern Gaza remain dire and overcrowded, with deadly Israeli strikes continuing there.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Qatar on Tuesday a week after an Israeli strike on the Gulf state targeting leaders of the Palestinian group Hamas.

Rubio landed in Doha after departing Israel where he said the US would ask Qatar to continue its work mediating the war in Gaza despite the strike, which drew international condemnation.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with its president and former defence minister have "incited the commission of genocide" in Gaza, UN investigators concluded in a report published Tuesday.

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry's report "concludes that Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then Defence Minister Yoav Gallant have incited the commission of genocide and that Israeli authorities have failed to take action against them to punish this incitement".