Israeli tanks push deeper into Gaza City; Death toll in war crosses 65,000 | Top updates

Meanwhile, Palestinians have been streaming out of the city — some by car, others on foot as Israel opened another corridor south of Gaza City for two days.

Israeli troops and tanks pushed deeper into Gaza City on Wednesday, the second day of a ground offensive, as Palestinians fled the devastated area in large numbers.

Israeli military vehicles (right) near the border with Gaza, in Israel on September 17 and displaced Palestinians (left) move with their belongings southwards on September 16.(AFP and Reuters )

Palestinians have been streaming out of the city — some by car, others on foot as Israel opened another corridor south of Gaza City for two days to allow more people to evacuate.

According to Reuters, Israeli tanks moved short distances towards the city's central and western areas from three directions, but no major advance has been reported.

The war has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants.

Here are the key updates:

• At least 16 people were killed in overnight strikes on Wednesday, including women and children, the Associated Press has reported, citing hospital officials.
• The Gaza health ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government, said that multiple Israeli strikes hit the Rantisi Hospital for children in Gaza City on Tuesday night.

Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from Israel September 17, 2025.(Reuters)

• According to the ministry, which posted images on Facebook showing the damaged roof, water tanks, and rubble in a hospital corridor, the strikes compelled around half of the hospital's 80 patients to evacuate.
• The European Commission has proposed to suspend free-trade arrangements on Israeli goods due to the war in Gaza. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has proposed a package of sanctions on two Israeli ministers, as well as violent settlers and Hamas members, according to Reuters.

• Pope Leo XIV has issued an urgent call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Addressing his weekly general audience, the pope expressed his “profound” solidarity with Palestinians and demanded Israel respect international humanitarian law as it pushes its new offensive in Gaza.

Displaced Palestinians, fleeing northern Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, move southward after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the south, in the central Gaza Strip September 17, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa(Reuters)

• “Before the Almighty Lord who commanded ‘Thou shalt not kill’ and before all of human history, every person always has an inviolable dignity that must be respected and protected,” Pope Leo XIV said.

• Qatar’s ministry of foreign affairs has released a statement, saying they condemned “in the strongest terms” Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza. The ministry wrote on X that the operation marked an “extension of the war of genocide” against the Palestinians.
• Saudi Arabia, too, has condemned "in the strongest terms" the Israeli ground operation in Gaza City.
• The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says Gazans are living through “exponential fear amid bombardment and devastation” as airstrikes in the main city and the north intensify by the hour. It also demanded an immediate ceasefire.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 others. Forty-eight hostages, fewer than half believed to be alive, remain in Gaza.