"Last night was one of the most difficult nights," says Imad, a resident of Gaza city.

He tells the BBC's Newsday how he'd witnessed "bombs everywhere" targeting a lot of buildings. Smoke and fire, he says, was "clear" in the sky.

"Sounds of explosions can be heard from different parts of the strip," he says.

Imad says that he'd seen people on social media, roaming the streets, not knowing where to go next. Hospitals are also filled with wounded people, who cannot be treated nor move to the South.

"The situation is really bad... we are not optimistic but let us hope at least," says Imad.

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent

Gaza residents have described last night as “hell” as Israel's prime minister confirms that a "powerful operation" has been launched in Gaza City.

Israeli warplanes carried out a wave of heavy airstrikes overnight across Gaza City, with concentrated bombardment on the central al-Daraj neighbourhood, the Beach refugee camp in the west, and Sheikh Radwan in the north.

The attacks were accompanied by artillery fire, drone attacks and helicopter gunship activity, leaving residents describing the night as “hell".

Ghazi al-Aloul, a displaced resident from northern Gaza, tells the BBC he is now sleeping at the entrance of al-Quds Hospital in Tel al-Hawa, south-west Gaza. “I did not choose this, I was forced after leaving the home where my family and I had been sheltering for nearly a month after fleeing the north “.

“The bombardment has been insane for hours, and the army is threatening to demolish several residential buildings in the area,” he says.

Sami Abu Dalal, from al-Daraj in central Gaza, describes the night as “extremely difficult”. He says residents endured continuous strikes, drone fire, and the detonation of explosives. “Whole residential blocks were levelled on top of their inhabitants, leaving many dead, missing, or injured,” he added.

In Tel al-Hawa, resident Taysir Abu Diya tells the BBC the assault appeared to be advancing along three main fronts, from north middle Sheikh Radwan towards al-Jisr, al-Ayoun and the central market, from al-Sudaniya pushing through al-Karama and intelligence compound areas towards al-Maqousi and the Beach camp, and from Tel al-Hawa towards al-Khoor roundabout and al-Dahdouh.

He says the advances were accompanied by the use of booby-trapped vehicles, intense airstrikes, and heavy shelling. Meanwhile, Apache helicopters hovered over different parts of the city, firing continuously.

Jeremy Bowen
International editor

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

As well as the results of military action, the UN report singles out three Israeli officials for inciting genocide.

They are Yoav Gallant, then the defence minister, who said on 9 October 2023 that Israel was fighting "human animals". Like Prime Minister Netanyahu, Gallant already faces an arrest warrant for war crimes from the International Criminal Court.

Netanyahu is also accused of incitement by comparing the Gaza war to the story of the Jewish fight against an enemy known as Amalek. In the bible God tells the Jewish people to eliminate all the Amalek men, women and children, as well as their possessions and their animals.

The third official singled out is President Isaac Herzog, who in the first week of the war condemned Gaza's Palestinians for not rising up against Hamas. He said on 13 October 2023 that "it's an entire nation out there that is responsible".

Israel has dismissed a report from a UN commission of inquiry that says the country is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, denouncing it as "distorted and false".

An Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson accused the the commission of serving as "Hamas proxies" and relying "entirely on Hamas falsehoods, laundered and repeated by others" that had "already been thoroughly debunked".

"In stark contrast to the lies in the report, Hamas is the party that attempted genocide in Israel - murdering 1,200 people, raping women, burning families alive, and openly declaring its goal of killing every Jew," they added.

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021 to investigate all alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.

The three-member expert panel is chaired by Navi Pillay, a South African former UN human rights chief who was president of the international tribunal on Rwanda's genocide.

Tom Bennett
Reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Getty Images

This new report, commissioned by the UN's Human Rights Council, says Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, in “the strongest and most authoritative UN finding to date."

Among its findings are that Israeli security forces perpetrated “sexual and gender-based violence” against Palestinians in Gaza.

It says this includes “rape, sexualised torture and other forms of sexual violence” which cause “extreme physical and psychological harm to victims”.

It says this violence has been used as “part of a pattern of collective punishment to fracture, humiliate and subjugate the Palestinian population in its entirety.”

The commission also finds that Israeli forces have imposed measures intended to prevent births - pointing to an attack against Gaza’s largest fertility clinic, which reportedly destroyed around 4,000 embryos and 1,000 sperm samples and unfertilised eggs.

This report will deepen international divisions about warpublished at 08:42 BST 16 September

08:42 BST 16 September

Jeremy Bowen
International editor

Legally, it is hard to prove the crime of genocide.

The people who framed the Genocide Convention, and interpretations made by the ICJ in more recent cases deliberately set a high legal bar.

At the International Court of Justice in The Hague, South Africa has brought a case that Israel has committed genocide against the Palestinians. It will take several years for the case to be adjudicated.

But with the war in Gaza continuing and perhaps escalating further with the current Israeli offensive, the UN report is going to deepen international divisions about the war.

On one side are countries who demand an immediate end to the killing and destruction in Gaza, and condemn the famine caused by Israel's siege. They include the UK and France.

On the other are Israel, and the United States. The administration of President Donald Trump continues to provide vital military aid and diplomatic cover without which the Israelis would struggle to continue the war in Gaza and its bombing campaigns elsewhere in the Middle East.

Image source, /Anadolu via Getty Images

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory found that four of the five acts defined under international law have been carried out since the start of the war with Hamas in 2023.

This includes:

• Killing members of the group through attacks on protected objects; targeting civilians and other protected persons; and the deliberate infliction of conditions causing deaths
• Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group through direct attacks on civilians and protected objects; severe mistreatment of detainees; forced displacement; and environmental destruction
• Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the group in whole or in part through destruction of structures and land essential to Palestinians; destruction and denial of access to medical services; forced displacement; blocking essential aid, water, electricity and fuel from reaching Palestinians; reproductive violence; and specific conditions impacting children
• Imposing measures intended to prevent births through the December 2023 attack on Gaza's largest fertility clinic, reportedly destroying around 4,000 embryos and 1,000 sperm samples and unfertilised eggs.

It also states that "genocidal intent was the only reasonable inference".

Israel's foreign ministry has rejected the report, denouncing it as "distorted and false".

You can read more on the report here.

In a few moments, we'll be hearing from the UN commission of inquiry that found that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Our team in Jerusalem will be bringing you updates and analysis on the news conference - you can also watch it live at the top of the page.

Israeli media is reporting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed that "a powerful operation in Gaza" began last night.

He was speaking at the beginning of his testimony for his ongoing corruption trial at the Tel Aviv District Court.

The IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee also posts on X , externalthat the military has "begun destroying Hamas's infrastructure in Gaza City".

The city is a "dangerous combat zone," and he tells citizens to leave "to ensure their safety."

UN genocide report a blunt indictment of Israel's actions in Gazapublished at 08:15 BST 16 September

08:15 BST 16 September

Jeremy Bowen
International editor

Image source, Reuters

The report is intended to be detailed and damning, presenting evidence it says shows that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. It says that Israel has breached the Genocide Convention that was passed in 1948 by the newly established United Nations. The word genocide, and the convention that defined it as a crime, were directly inspired by the genocide of six million Jews by Nazi Germany.

Israel denies all allegations that its conduct in Gaza has broken the treaties and conventions that make up the laws of war and international humanitarian law. It justifies its actions as self-defence, in protection of its citizens and to force the release of the hostages taken by Hamas and Islamic Jihad on 7 October 2023, around 20 of whom are believed still to be alive.

The Israelis have dismissed the report as antisemitic lies inspired by Hamas. It was compiled by a commission of inquiry set up by the UN Human Rights Council. Israel and the US are boycotting the Council, which both countries say is biased against them.

But the findings of the report will feed into the growing international condemnation of Israel's conduct, which is also coming from Israel's traditional western allies as well as the Gulf Arab monarchies that normalised relations with Israel in the Abraham Accords.

• Read on

A United Nations commission of inquiry says Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

A new report says there are reasonable grounds to conclude that four of the five genocidal acts defined under international law have been carried out since the start of the war with Hamas in 2023:

• killing members of a group
• causing them serious bodily and mental harm
• deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to destroy the group
• and preventing births.

It cites statements by Israeli leaders, and the pattern of conduct by Israeli forces, as evidence of genocidal intent.

Israel's foreign ministry said it categorically rejected the report, denouncing it as "distorted and false".

A spokesperson accused the three experts on the commission of serving as "Hamas proxies" and relying "entirely on Hamas falsehoods, laundered and repeated by others" that had "already been thoroughly debunked".

"In stark contrast to the lies in the report, Hamas is the party that attempted genocide in Israel - murdering 1,200 people, raping women, burning families alive, and openly declaring its goal of killing every Jew," the spokesperson added.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the unprecedented Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

At least 64,905 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Most of the population has also been repeatedly displaced; more than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed; the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed; and UN-backed food security experts have declared a famine in Gaza City.

Read more in our story here.

Image source, Reuters

Families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have camped outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's official Jerusalem residence overnight, protesting the heavy Israeli strikes on Gaza City.

"Our children are there, being used as human shields… we will fortify ourselves here” the families said in a statement this morning.

The hostages forum says "many living hostages are in Gaza City", external, and "Netanyahu is deliberately choosing to sacrifice them for political considerations".

President Trump warned last night on Truth Social that he has read that "Hamas has moved the hostages above ground to use them as human shields against Israel’s ground offensive. I hope the leaders of Hamas know what they’re getting into if they do such a thing."

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

US Secretary of State Marc Rubio has assured Israel of unwavering US support and says there is a "very short window of time in which a deal could happen", between the country and Hamas.

He stressed Hamas no longer have "months" but instead have "days and maybe a few weeks" to come to a peace agreement.

Rubio was speaking after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem yesterday.

Asked whether a diplomatic course of action was still possible, Rubio said that the US would like Hamas to lay down their arms and free the hostages, but a "concise military operation" may be required to eliminate the group.

Rubio is also visiting Qatar to lobby the Gulf state to continue its mediation between Israel and Hamas, after Israel carried out strikes against Hamas leaders gathered to discuss a peace proposal last week.

Image source, Reuters

Israel has heavily bombed Gaza City overnight, with unconfirmed reports from US news sites CNN and Axios and Israel's Jerusalem Post saying the military has now launched its ground offensive to occupy the entire city.

Local journalists in Gaza say there have been almost constant Israeli air strikes and artillery and gunfire in Gaza City.

The IDF has already been operating on the ground in Gaza City for several weeks and there’s been no official confirmation of a new ground incursion from the Israeli military.

Last month Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to capture Gaza City, which he describes as a stronghold of Hamas, which launched the 7 October attacks on Israel.

This morning Defence minister Israel Katz posted on X, external that “Gaza is burning," adding that Israel is striking the “terrorist infrastructure” and fighting for the "release of hostages and defeat of Hamas."