Israeli strikes kill more than 40 people in Gaza, say health officials,
ahead of UN meeting
[September 22, 2025]
By SAMY MAGDY
CAIRO (AP) — Israeli strikes in Gaza City and at a refugee camp killed
more than 40 people, including 19 women and children, health officials
said Sunday, as several European countries and leading U.S. allies moved
to recognize a Palestinian state.
Health officials at Shifa Hospital, where most of the bodies were
brought, said the dead included 14 people killed in a strike late
Saturday which hit a residential block in the southern side of the city.
Health staff said a nurse who worked at the hospital was among the dead,
along with his wife and three children.
Another strike that targeted a group of people in front of a clinic in
the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed at least eight
Palestinians, according to the Al-Awda Hospital. The dead include four
children and two women, the hospital said. Another 22 people were
wounded, it said.
Israel did not comment on the strikes.
Anti-war protests in Israel
The latest Israeli military operation, which began this week, further
escalates a conflict that has roiled the Middle East and likely pushes
any ceasefire further out of reach. The Israeli military, which has told
Palestinians to leave, hasn’t given a timeline for the offensive, but
there were indications it could take months. Israel says the operation
is meant to pressure Hamas into freeing hostages and surrendering.
Ahead of the United Nations General Assembly, peace activists in Israel
have hailed the planned recognition of a Palestinian state. On Sunday, a
group of more than 60 Jewish and Arab organizations representing about
1,000 activists, including some veteran organizations promoting peace
and coexistence, known as It's Time Coalition, called for an end to the
war, the release of the hostages and the recognition of a Palestinian
state.
“We refuse to live forever by the sword. The UN decision offers a
historic opportunity to move from a death trap to life, from an endless
messianic war to a future of security and freedom for both peoples,"
said the coalition in a video statement.
On Saturday night, tens of thousands of people in Israel protested,
calling for an end to the war and a hostage deal.
Yet a ceasefire remains elusive. Israeli bombardment over the past 23
months has killed more than 65,000 people in Gaza, destroyed vast areas
of the strip, displaced around 90% of the population and caused a
catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts saying Gaza City is
experiencing famine.
Netanyahu says Palestinian state ‘will not happen’
On Sunday, Australia, Canada and the U.K. announced formal recognition
of Palestinian statehood. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the
move is intended “to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and
Israelis.” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the
announcement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the establishment of a
Palestinian state “will not happen.” In an angry statement after the
coordinated initiative from the Commonwealth nations was announced, he
accused the foreign leaders of giving a “prize” to Hamas.
“It will not happen,” he said. “A Palestinian state will not be
established west of the Jordan River.”
Netanyahu said he would announce Israel’s response after a trip next
week to the U.S., where he is to meet President Donald Trump at the
White House.
Other prominent Western countries are preparing to recognize Palestinian
statehood at the gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly
on Monday, including France.
French President Emmanuel Macron criticized Israel’s conduct in its war
against Hamas, calling it a “failure” because the group continues to
recruit more fighters. In a CBS interview Sunday, Macron said that while
Israel has succeeded in killing Hamas leaders, it has been unable to
dismantle it during the nearly two-year conflict in Gaza. Macron told
CBS that Israel’s approach undermines the country’s credibility by
killing civilians, and that the war creates “an unsustainable framework
of security in the whole region.”
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Smoke rises following an explosion in the Gaza Strip, as seen from
southern Israel, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Dire humanitarian crisis
In a statement Sunday, the military stated it killed Majed Abu
Selmiya, who it said was a sniper for Hamas’ military wing and was
preparing to carry out more attacks in the Gaza City area, without
providing evidence.
Majed was the brother of the director of Shifa hospital, Dr. Mohamed
Abu Selmiya, who called the allegations a lie and said Israel was
trying to justify the killing of civilians. Dr. Selmiya told The
Associated Press that his brother, 57, suffered from high blood
pressure, diabetes and had vision problems.
As the attacks continue, Israel has ordered hundreds of thousands of
Palestinians sheltering in Gaza City to move south to what it calls
a humanitarian zone and opened another corridor south of the city
for two days this week to allow more people to evacuate.
Palestinians were streaming out of Gaza City by car and on foot,
though many are unwilling to be uprooted again, too weak to leave or
unable to afford the cost of moving.
Along the coastal Wadi Gaza route, those too exhausted to continue
stopped to catch their breath and give their children a much-needed
break from the difficult journey.
Aid groups have warned that forcing thousands of people to evacuate
will exacerbate the dire humanitarian crisis. They are appealing for
a ceasefire so aid can reach those who need it.
Pope denounces ‘forced exile’ of Palestinians
Pope Leo XIV criticized what he described as the “forced exile” of
Palestinians from Gaza, saying there was no future for the
“martyred” Gaza Strip based on violence and vendetta.
During his Sunday noon blessing, Leo issued another appeal for peace
and expressed appreciation for the work of Catholic organizations
active in helping Palestinians, which had representatives present in
St. Peter’s Square.
Families of hostages still held by Hamas have accused Netanyahu of
condemning their loved ones to death by continuing to fight rather
than negotiating an end to the war.
Israel in talks with Syria
Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting that Israel’s victories in
Lebanon against Hezbollah “have opened a window for the possibility
of peace with our neighbors to the north.”
“We are holding talks with the Syrians -- there is some progress,
but still a vision for the future,” he said.
Israel has occupied parts of southwest Syria since the overthrow of
then-Syrian President Bashar Assad in December. Relations with the
new Syrian government have been tense, with Israel carrying out
airstrikes over the summer in what it says were steps to protect
Syria’s Druze community.
Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa said in an interview on
Syrian state television on Sept. 12 that negotiations with Israel
for a security deal are still ongoing. He hopes that Israeli troops
will return to where they were before the fall of Assad’s government
under a disengagement agreement in 1974.
“Israel considered the fall of the regime as Syria’s withdrawal from
the 1974 agreement, even though Syria showed its commitment from the
very beginning,” said al-Sharaa.
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Associated Press writers Nicole Winfield in Rome, Italy, Kareem
Chehayeb in Beirut, Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Samuel Petrequin
in Paris contributed to this report.
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