Yohannes Lowe
The Guardian / September 8, 2025
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, has warned that a “powerful hurricane” will “strike the skies of Gaza City” later today as the military continues to expand its assault on the territory’s largest city.
“Today, a powerful hurricane will strike the skies of Gaza City, and the roofs of the terror towers will,” he wrote in a post on X.
“This is a final warning to the murderers and rapists of Hamas in Gaza and in luxury hotels abroad: Release the hostages and lay down your weapons- or Gaza will be destroyed, and you will be annihilated.”
Israeli airstrikes and demolitions have destroyed dozens of buildings in areas of Gaza City, with intense bombardments having reportedly levelled several neighbourhoods in recent weeks.
Israel has bombed Gaza City residential high-rises in recent days ahead of a long-threatened ground offensive.
Gaza City residents are being told to move to the southern part of the territory to areas that are under frequent Israeli bombardment and are already overcrowded.
As my colleague William Christou notes in this story, tens of thousands of people have already left the city as Israel has stepped up its bombardment, and the roads leading south have been packed with residents carrying their belongings in carts and trucks.
Gaza City is being gripped by famine caused by Israel’s restrictions on aid and the expanded assault will only deepen the widespread suffering of the civilian population there and could forcibly displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinian people, many of whom are ill or frail.
Yohannes Lowe is a Guardian reporter
