Smoke rose in the sky over Gaza City and explosions echoed through the streets on Monday morning (September 1), amid Israeli bombardment

The Israeli military has gradually escalated its operations around Gaza City over the past three weeks, and on Friday (August 29) it ended temporary pauses in the area that had allowed for aid deliveries, designating it a "dangerous combat zone."

Israel is pushing ahead with a plan to take full control of the whole Gaza Strip, starting with Gaza City, with the goal of destroying Hamas after nearly 23 months of war, while facing a global outcry over starvation in the besieged enclave.

The war began with a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people according to Israeli tallies and seizing about 250 hostages.

Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 63,000 people, 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

GAZA CITY, GAZA (SEPTEMBER 1, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. PALESTINIANS WALKING, SMOKE RISING IN THE SKY / AUDIO OF EXPLOSIONS HEARD

2. SMOKE RISING IN THE SKY

3. ALMOST-EMPTY STREET

4. SMOKE RISING IN THE SKY

5. PEOPLE WALKING ON THE STREET

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN FROM ZEITOUN NEIGHBOURHOOD, IZAM ABOU IYAD, SAYING:

“Our conditions are really really bad. We can’t sleep, we can’t sit, we can’t... There is no place to get displaced to, we are (moving) from an area to another.”

7. PALESTINIAN WALKING / RUBBLE AND DAMAGED BUILDINGS IN THE BACKGROUND

8. DESTROYED BUILDINGS

9. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN FROM ZEITOUN NEIGHBOURHOOD, IZAM ABOU IYAD, SAYING:

"We don't know if we are displaced or not.... It's all restrictions on the people. I don't know. May God calm the situation, we hope there will be breakthroughs, we don’t want to lose hope in the negotiations.”

10. ABOU IYAD WALKING NEXT TO A TENT

11. PEOPLE WALKING BETWEEN TENTS

12. A GIRL WALKING THE STREET WITH A BAG

13. PEOPLE WALKING NEXT TO TENTS