Israeli strikes on several locations across the Gaza Strip on Monday, leaving at least 31 people dead as its sweeping offensive in Gaza City pressed forward, health officials reported.
Airstrikes and artillery fire shook the city after Israel designated it a combat zone last week. On the edges of the city and inside the Jabaliya refugee camp, residents described seeing explosive-laden robots flattening buildings.
Hospitals in Gaza confirmed that at least 31 people were killed in the latest strikes, with women and children accounting for more than half. In Gaza City, where the army has repeatedly staged major raids since the October 7, 2023, the fatalities were at least 13, reports AP/UNB.
Meanwhile, Israel has been accused of committing genocide by scholars specialising in genocide studies, a charge Israel flatly denies.
The Israeli military maintains that it strikes only militants, insisting Hamas is responsible for civilian deaths because the militant group — now largely operating as guerrilla organisation — are embedded in areas that are densely populated.
Families in Gaza City, already displaced multiple times by fighting, are now caught between escalating combat and hunger. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) declared famine in Gaza on August 22, 2025—citing Israel’s blockade and continuing hostilities, constant mass displacements, and the collapse of local food systems.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, 63,557 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, with another 160,660 injured. Women and children account for about half of the victims, according to the ministry.
On Monday, the International Association of Genocide Scholars — a professional body with roughly 500 members worldwide, including Holocaust researchers — adopted a resolution declaring that “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide,” as well as crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The statement was backed by 86 percent of members who voted, though the organisation did not reveal the total number who participated.
Earlier in July, two Israeli organisations — B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel — accused their own government of committing genocide, a first for Jewish-led groups inside the country, though their stance does not reflect mainstream Israeli opinion.
International rights groups have also echoed the allegation.
Israel, founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust that claimed six million Jewish lives alongside others, rejects the charge outright. Officials argue that the army takes precautions to spare civilians and insists it is waging a defensive war following Hamas’ October 7 attack, which Israel describes as “a genocidal act” in itself.
