Israel launches ground assault on Gaza City

Israel launched its long-anticipated ground assault on Gaza City before dawn on Tuesday, shortly after visiting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio backed its goal of eradicating Hamas in Gaza.

A United Nations probe, meanwhile, charged Israel with committing "genocide" in the Palestinian territory and accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials of incitement.

During the night, the military unleashed a massive bombardment of Gaza City as Israeli troops moved deeper into the territory's largest urban hub.

"Last night, we transitioned into the next phase, the main phase of the plan for Gaza City... Forces have expanded ground activity into Hamas's main stronghold in Gaza, which is Gaza City," a military official told journalists.

"We are moving towards the centre" of Gaza City, he said. When asked whether troops had moved deeper into central Gaza City he replied: "Yes."

The military estimated there were "2,000-3,000 Hamas" militants operating in the area, he added.

Defence Minister Israel Katz said Gaza City was "on fire".

"The IDF (Israeli military) is striking terrorist infrastructure with an iron fist, and IDF soldiers are fighting bravely to create the necessary conditions for the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas," he said.

Witnesses told AFP of relentless bombing of Gaza City, much of which is already in ruins after nearly two years of Israeli strikes since the Hamas attacks of October 2023 that triggered the war.

"We can hear their screams," said 25-year-old resident Ahmed Ghazal.

Rubio offered robust backing for the offensive on Monday as he met Netanyahu, who has ordered the Israeli military to seize Gaza City.

Rubio told reporters as he left Israel: "We think we have a very short window of time in which a deal can happen. We don't have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks to go."

Rubio said a diplomatic solution in which Hamas demilitarises remained the US preference, although he added: "Sometimes when you're dealing with a group of savages like Hamas, that's not possible, but we hope it can happen."

Rubio, who met Monday in Jerusalem with families of hostages in Gaza, acknowledged that Hamas had leverage by holding them.

"If there were no hostages and no civilians in the way, this war would have ended a year and a half ago," he said at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport.

A group representing hostages' families said they were "terrified" for their loved ones after Netanyahu ordered the strikes.

"He is doing everything to ensure there is no deal and not to bring them back," they said in a statement.

- 'Genocide' -

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI), which does not speak for the world body and has faced harsh Israeli criticism, found that "genocide is occurring in Gaza and is continuing to occur", commission chief Navi Pillay told AFP.

"The responsibility lies with the State of Israel."

The investigators said explicit statements by Israeli civilian and military authorities along with the pattern of Israeli forces' conduct "indicated that the genocidal acts were committed with intent to destroy... Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a group".

The report concluded that Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and former defence minister Yoav Gallant have "incited the commission of genocide".

Israel said it "categorically rejects this distorted and false report" and called for the "immediate abolition" of the COI.

Before flying out to Qatar, Rubio said he hoped the US ally would keep up its Gaza mediation efforts, despite Israel carrying out air strikes against Hamas leaders gathered in the Gulf emirate last week to consider a US truce proposal.

"We want them to know that if there's any country in the world that could help end this through a negotiation, it's Qatar," Rubio said.

Gaza's civil defence agency said at least 27 people had been killed by Israeli fire on Tuesday.

Media restrictions in the territory and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

- Ahead of statehood push -

Rubio's visit came a week before France will lead a UN summit in which a number of Western governments, angered by what they see as Israeli intransigence, plan to recognise a Palestinian state.

Rubio called statehood recognition "largely symbolic", while Netanyahu -- whose government is fervently opposed to such a move -- said his country may take unspecified "unilateral steps" in response.

The October 2023 attack by Hamas resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed at least 64,905 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the territory's health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

UN slams Israel's Qatar attack

The United Nations rights chief warned on Tuesday that Israel's airstrike targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar last week threatened regional peace and stability and urged "accountability for unlawful killings".

"Israel's strike on negotiators in Doha on September 9 was a shocking breach of international law," Volker Turk told the UN Human Rights Council.

Israel targeted Hamas leaders last week in strikes on the Qatari capital, killing five Hamas members and a Qatari security officer.

The attack drew widespread international condemnation, including from Gulf monarchies allied with the United States, Israel's main backer.

Opening an urgent debate on the strike before the council, Turk described it as "an assault on regional peace and stability, and a blow against the integrity of mediation and negotiating processes around the world".

"As such, I condemn it and call on this Council and all governments to do the same."

The council announced on Monday that it would convene the 10th urgent debate since its creation in 2006 following two official requests from member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.

Israel, which disengaged from the rights council earlier this year, reacted angrily to the news of the urgent debate.

"This marks yet another shameful chapter in the Human Rights Council's ongoing abuse," Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Daniel Meron, told journalists.

He accused the council of "serving as a platform for anti-Israel propaganda, while ignoring the brutal realities on the ground and the atrocities committed by Hamas".

Turk said Israel's September 9 attack "violated the right to life under international human rights law and the principles of international humanitarian law".

"Targeting parties engaged in internationally supported mediation on its territory undermines Qatar’s key role as a facilitator and peace broker.

"It is an attack on global efforts to resolve conflicts peacefully," he said.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on the council "to reaffirm the central importance of mediation processes and to call for accountability for unlawful killings".