The Israeli military began a ground offensive in Gaza City, the Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday, with two IDF divisions moving toward the city. A third was expected to join them.
In images taken from the Israel-Gaza border, plumes of smoke could be seen rising above the city, which is the largest in the Gaza Strip. Large explosions were reported across the city.
About 450,000 people had evacuated Gaza City as of Thursday, according to the IDF.
Over 450,000 Palestinians evacuate Gaza City, IDF says
More than 450,000 people have been evacuated from Gaza City to southern Gaza as Israeli forces "expanded combat in Gaza City," over the past 24 hours, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Effie Defrin said during a briefing on Thursday.
Two divisions are already operating in Gaza City, the IDF said, and a third division will "join the ground operations in the coming days," Defrin said.
Displaced Palestinians sitting in the back of a truck laden with their belongings while fleeing bombardment, watch smoke billowing amid Israeli strikes on al-Shati camp for Palestinian refugees west of Gaza City on Sept. 18, 2025.
Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP via Getty Images
Since the beginning of the second phase of the ongoing operation in Gaza City, Israeli forces have hit more than 1,200 targets it claims belong to terrorists.
-ABC News' Jordana Miller
Sep 18, 2025, 3:40 PM EDT
IRC forced to suspend programming in Gaza City amidst Israeli military takeover, it says
The International Rescue Commission said it has been forced to suspend its work in Gaza City due to the Israeli ground incursion on the city.
"Despite numerous warnings on the humanitarian impact of a Gaza City takeover, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and our partners have been forced to close all of our programming. The solution is tragically simple," Bob Kitchen, vice president of emergencies at the humanitarian aid organization, said in a statement.
"Nutrition treatment for malnourished children and pregnant women has stopped, and our protection services for women and children who have experienced violence have been interrupted -- though we continue to monitor cases as families relocate," he wrote.
"With Gaza's water supply destroyed, we are still delivering emergency water trucking in Gaza city which is a lifeline for those we serve, whilst also closely monitoring the risks faced by our staff," Kitchen said.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
Sep 18, 2025, 3:34 PM EDT
'Goal is to bring Hamas to breaking point,' IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces are working to bring the remaining Hamas fighters in Gaza to the "breaking point," spokesperson Nadav Shoshani told ABC News.
Shoshani said there are still "thousands" of Hamas fighters in Gaza City.
"They are losing more than they are recruiting", he added.
ABC News also questioned the disconnect between the IDF's prediction that the ground operation in Gaza City could take "months" and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's recent suggestion that the operation should be "concise."
"We are operating to have this war over as fast as possible," Shoshani said. "But this war has to be over with the right conditions. No Hamas in power that can carry out another massacre of civilians for no reason."
Asked why the IDF has not published the evidence it says it has that Hamas has been operating from the high-rise buildings in Gaza City which the IDF has been targeting in recent days, Shoshani claimed Hamas uses high rise buildings as "a viewpoint" to activate improvised explosive devices against Israeli troops.
-ABC News' Tom Soufi Burridge, Dorit Long, Lukasz Konopa and Dragana Jovanovic
Sep 18, 2025, 1:32 PM EDT
Gunman kills 2 at Israeli border with Jordan: IDF
Two men were killed when a gunman opened fire at the Allenby Crossing that connects Israel and Jordan, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on Thursday.
Security forces killed the gunman who allegedly arrived at the crossing "in a truck transporting humanitarian aid from Jordan," according to the IDF.
An Israeli ambulance attends the scene of a fatal shooting at the Allenby Crossing between the Israeli-Occupied West Bank and Jordan, Sept. 18, 2025.
Oren Ben Hakoon/Reuters
A spokesperson for the Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency medical services organization, said two men whose ages were approximately 60 and 20 years old were pronounced dead.
A statement from Hamas after the incident called it a "heroic operation."
The Allenby Crossing is one of five land border crossings between Israel and countries to the east and south, and is one of the crossing points for humanitarian aid destined for Gaza.
Jordan is investigating the shooting, its Foreign Ministry said in a post on X Wednesday.
Israeli security forces close off a road leading to the King Hussein (Allenby) bridge, the main border crossing between the Israel-occupied West Bank and Jordan, followiong a shooting attack on Sept. 18, 2025.
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images
"Jordan condemns and rejects as a violation of the law and a threat to the Kingdom's interests and its ability to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says in the post.
The statement describes the driver who allegedly opened fire as “a civilian who began working three months ago as a driver to deliver aid to Gaza.”
According to the ministry, 22 Jordanian aid trucks crossed the bridge into Israel Thursday. The ministry said it is "following up ... on the conditions of the drivers who crossed the bridge today to deliver aid to Gaza, to ensure their immediate return to Jordan."
