STORY: Palestinians bid farewell to their loved ones in Al-Shifa hospital on Sunday (August 31) following Israeli strikes on Gaza City.

Head of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, Hassan Al-Shaer, said that they received around 150 injuries and 43 fatalities following yesterday's Israeli strikes.

Israeli forces pounded the suburbs of Gaza City overnight from the air and ground, destroying homes and driving more families out of the area as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet was set on Sunday to discuss a plan to seize the city.

Local health authorities said Israeli gunfire and strikes killed at least 18 people on Sunday, including 13 who tried to get food from near an aid site in the central Gaza Strip, and at least two in a house in Gaza City.

An Israeli official said Netanyahu's security cabinet will convene on Sunday evening to discuss the next stages of the planned offensive to seize Gaza City, which he has described as Hamas' last bastion.

A full-scale offensive is not expected to start for weeks. Israel says it wants to evacuate the civilian population before moving more ground forces in.

The war began with a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed, mostly civilians, and 251 taken hostages. Twenty of the remaining 48 hostages are believed to still be alive.

Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 63,000 people, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health officials, and it has plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis and left much of it in ruins.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: GAZA CITY, GAZA (AUGUST 31, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all)

1. PALESTINIAN MAN SITTING NEXT TO BODY IN WHITE SHROUDS INSIDE HOSPITAL MORGUE

2. VARIOUS OF BODIES OF THOSE KILLED IN WHITE SHROUDS COVERED WITH BLOOD STAINS, INSIDE HOSPITAL MORGUE

3. PEOPLE STANDING NEXT TO BODIES OF THOSE KILLED INSIDE MORGUE

4. PEOPLE GATHERING AT AL-SHIFA HOSPITAL

5. VARIOUS OF PALESTINIAN WOMAN, ETAF ABU AL-JABIN, MOURNING NEAR BODY OF ONE OF THOSE KILLED

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN WOMAN, ETAF ABU AL-JABIN, SAYING:

“We have four martyrs (from our family). They struck our tent while we were sleeping at night. We had done nothing wrong. We don’t know what they want from us.”

7. VARIOUS OF PALESTINIANS GATHERING AROUND BODY IN WHITE SHROUD

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN WOMAN, ETAF ABU AL-JABIN, SAYING:

“By God, we’re staying put, we are not leaving, not leaving, not leaving. We will die here in the end it is death either way. Where can we go? We will stay here, die with dignity, and die as martyrs, rather than leave and be humiliated in foreign lands.”

9. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GATHERING AT AL-SHIFA HOSPITAL

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN WOMAN, UMM AHMED ABU AL-JABIN, SAYING:

“What more can they do? There is already killing and destruction, nothing is left. No trees, no stones, no human beings. Everything is gone. It does not matter to us anymore. If they want to wipe us out, then let them wipe us out.”

11. VARIOUS OF HEAD OF AL-SHIFA MEDICAL COMPLEX, HASSAN AL-SHAER, SITTING BY HIS DESK

12. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HEAD OF AL-SHIFA MEDICAL COMPLEX, HASSAN AL-SHAER, SAYING:

“Yesterday was honestly a very difficult day. We received a large number of martyrs and wounded due to the Israeli army’s rocket bombardment.”

13. VARIOUS OF AL-SHAER BY HIS DESK

14. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HEAD OF AL-SHIFA MEDICAL COMPLEX, HASSAN AL-SHAER, SAYING:

“We received about 150 injuries and 43 martyrs. There were many critical cases nearly 60 severe ones. The cases were distributed between the operating rooms and intensive care units. It was extremely difficult to deal with them. We worked in the operating rooms continuously for 24 hours.”

15. VARIOUS OF PALESTINIANS HOLDING FUNERAL PRAYERS

16. PEOPLE CARRYING BODY IN WHITE SHROUDS

17. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GATHERING AND MOURNING THEIR LOVED NEXT TO WHITE SHROUD

18. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CARRYING BODY IN WHITE SHROUD