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About 300,000 flee Gaza City as Israel intensifies strikes

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 08:21, September 15, 2025

JERUSALEM, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- About 300,000 people have fled Gaza City as Israel intensified strikes, Israel's Army Radio reported on Sunday, citing security officials.

Israeli attacks, mainly in the northern Gaza Strip, killed at least 68 Palestinians and wounded 346 others in the past 24 hours, Gaza's health ministry said on Sunday.

The strikes destroyed at least two multi-storey buildings in Gaza City, including one belonging to the Islamic University that was sheltering displaced people. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz shared a video on social media showing the university building being bombed and collapsing.

The Israeli military confirmed it had struck two high-rise buildings, claiming Hamas used them for intelligence gathering and surveillance.

Israel says it plans to take over Gaza City, where about a million people had been living and sheltering before the offensive began, as part of its declared aims to dismantle Hamas and release almost 50 hostages held by the group.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Jerusalem on Sunday and visited the Western Wall along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The two are scheduled to hold talks.

Netanyahu called Rubio "an outstanding friend of the State of Israel" and said his visit showed "the resilience of the alliance between the United States and Israel."

"Under President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio, this alliance is stronger than ever," Netanyahu said.

Speaking to reporters before departing for Israel, Rubio said Trump was "not happy" about the Israeli strike in Qatar on Tuesday but that it would "not change the nature of our relationship with the Israelis." He added the two countries would "have to talk about" the impact on prospects for a ceasefire deal.

Rubio is due to visit a settlement excavation site on Monday, run by the pro-settler Elad organization in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem.

Israel's military operations have killed more than 64,000 people in Gaza since October 2023, according to Gaza's health authorities, with much of the enclave reduced to rubble and famine spreading.