The Times of Israel is liveblogging Tuesday’s events as they unfold.
Israel reportedly commences ground op portion of Gaza City takeover
The IDF has launched its ground offensive to take over Gaza City, the Axios news site reports, citing unnamed Israeli officials.
The IDF has been gradually expanding airstrikes in and around the city in recent days, but had not dispatched ground troops into the densely populated northern city where roughly hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are believed to be sheltering.
The IDF says some 300,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza City in recent weeks after its population had ballooned to roughly one million displaced people earlier this year. The army has been urging everyone in Gaza City to evacuate with limited success, as many fear that other areas in the Strip are no safer.
Airstrikes in Gaza City intensified on Monday evening local time before Palestinian media began reporting that IDF tanks had entered the city.
Ex-hostage Arbel Yehud says boyfriend still in Strip in danger due to IDF’s Gaza City strikes
Former hostage Arbel Yehoud, whose boyfriend Ariel Cunio is still being held in Gaza, writes an appeal to the public on Instagram as she makes her way to Jerusalem for a protest outside of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence against the reported advancement of the IDF’s Gaza City takeover operation.
“My Ariel is in real danger. The sounds of the explosions from Gaza shake the walls of my home and the chambers of my heart. I am going up to Jerusalem to the prime minister’s residence, and I need you with me to save everyone,” she writes.
In shift, NY’s pro-Israel Andrew Cuomo says Gaza war ‘carnage’ needs to end
Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a longtime supporter of Israel who is running for New York City mayor, calls for an end to the “horrific” war in Gaza.
“There is no doubt that the people of New York and the nation see the continued carnage that is happening and are deeply, deeply disturbed and want it over, and believe it has gone on way too long,” Cuomo tells The New York Times.
“It should end today. Return the hostages, end the violence. Today. I think it should have been over months ago. It is horrific,” Cuomo says.
He also condemns the leader in the mayoral race, the far-left Israel critic Zohran Mamdani, for his call to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mamdani doubled down on his vow to arrest Netanyahu this week, despite legal experts saying that, as mayor, he would not have the ability to do so.
“I don’t think the mayor of New York should be exercising his or her political judgment in arresting world leaders based on their politics,” Cuomo says.
Cuomo distances himself from Netanyahu. Last year, Cuomo signed up to join Netanyahu’s defense team after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu.
Cuomo says that he meant to contest the court’s jurisdiction, not claims about Netanyahu’s complicity in war crimes.
“I never stood with Bibi,” Cuomo says, using Netanyahu’s nickname.
Cuomo declines to say if the Israeli military has committed war crimes in Gaza.
Cuomo’s denunciation of the war marks a shift in tone from the former governor. During the primary campaign, he maintained a steadfast support for Israel as he aimed to win Jewish voters who were put off by Mamdani’s anti-Israel rhetoric.
Cuomo’s statements are another indication of how the Gaza war has scrambled support for Israel in New York politics and the Democratic Party.
Mamdani caused repeated controversies with his anti-Israel rhetoric during the primary campaign, particularly his defense of the slogan “globalize the intifada.” After coming under heavy pressure, Mamdani said he would “discourage” the use of the phrase.
A poll last week found that, despite the controversies, New York City voters favored Mamdani’s rhetoric on the conflict.
On Sunday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, another pro-Israel moderate, endorsed Mamdani’s candidacy.
Also running for mayor is New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a moderate who has held onto his pro-Israel line during the campaign.
Hostage mother heckles Netanyahus outside Jerusalem residence
While police appear to have blocked off Azza Street in Jerusalem to prevent a large protest against the government’s Gaza City takeover plans, officers have allowed hostage Matan Zengauker’s mother Einav along with a handful of other supporters to pass through to demonstrate outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official residence.
“Sara (Netanyahu), come out here and tell me what you promised me in Nir Oz. There are other fathers and mothers here too. Come out and tell me how you lied to my face, how you told me that you were going to bring a deal that returns everyone home. Come out and tell me how you lied to me. You know how to meet with families behind closed doors, away from the media, away from everything, where you sell them complete nonsense. Enough!” Zangauker can be heard shouting.
“I have one interest: for this country to wake up and bring back my child along with 47 other hostages — both living and deceased — and to bring our soldiers home,” she continues.
Netanyahu “doesn’t like hearing us here, so he ran away like a coward. We will follow him everywhere, day and night. It’s over. The gloves are off. If he stops at nothing and sends our precious, brave, heroic soldiers to fight while our hostages are being used as human shields, he is not worthy of being prime minister!” she adds.
עינב צנגאוקר מחוץ למעון רה"מ: "שרה, תצאי ותגידי איך שיקרת לי בפנים ואמרת לי שאתם הולכים להביא הסכם ולהחזיר את כולם"@elyashivharel pic.twitter.com/UToXWxKdAO
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) September 15, 2025
Hostage forum says PM fled Jerusalem after families called overnight protest against Gaza City op
Police have closed Jerusalem’s Azza Street, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official residence is locate,d after the Hostage Family Forum announced that it was going to hold an overnight protest against the reported commencement of the first phase of the IDF’s takeover of Gaza City.
Hostage families fear that the operation will put their loved ones in danger.
The forum issues a statement saying that Netanyahu heard about the “families’ intention to come demonstrate near his home in Jerusalem and fled within minutes.”
The forum reiterates its call for the public to join them in Jerusalem for the protest.
Anat Angrest says son held in Gaza City area being hit by IDF; hostage families descend on PM’s home for overnight protest
The mother of hostage Matan Angrest says her son is being held in the area currently being struck by the IDF in Gaza City.
“I won’t let this be his last night (alive). I’m on my way to the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem. Come with me!” Anat Angrest tweets.
The IDF has said that it is taking steps to avoid targeting areas where the hostages are held, though, it has in the past unknowingly done so, leading Hamas captors to execute several hostages.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is also being held in Gaza, tweets, “We hear the bombings on our children and we can’t sit at home.”
She accused Netanyahu of deciding to kill the hostages and of “sacrificing an entire country for his political survival.
“We are going out to demand the return of our children in a comprehensive deal to end the war,” Zangauker adds.
Hostage Nimrod Cohen’s mother Vicky Cohen addresses her son directly in an X post.
“My child, I know that the bombings around you are shaking the tunnel you are in,” she writes.
“I wish I could just tell you to take care of yourself, but we both know that this is not in your control. I am sending you strength and asking you: Be strong, and don’t break.”
Trump: Netanyahu ‘won’t be hitting great ally’ Qatar again after last week’s strike
US President Donald Trump says Israel won’t be striking Qatar again after last week’s strike targeting Hamas leaders in Doha infuriated the Gulf state and other US allies in the region.
Asked in the Oval Office whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had given him any guarantees that Israel won’t strike Qatar again, Trump tells reporters, “He won’t be hitting Qatar.”
He reiterates that Doha has “been a very good ally, and a lot of people don’t know that.
Netanyahu “won’t be hitting Qatar, but he will be maybe going after…” Trump adds, indicating that he expects Israel to continue trying to target Hamas elsewhere before pivoting to discuss a related issue.
He recalls having read an article earlier today “where Hamas said they’re going to use hostages as human shields, going to bring them up from the dark tunnels and put them in the line of fire, so that if Israel goes forward, they’re going to die.”
“I thought that was very terrible and I put out a statement,” he says, referring to his Truth Social post in which he warned that “all bets are off” if Hamas adopted that strategy.
Trump is also asked about an Axios report citing unnamed Israeli officials who said that Netanyahu tipped off Trump on the Doha strike in advance and with enough time for the US to order it be called off.
The US president denies the report, sticking to his account that he was only alerted of the attack at a point last week when it was too late to reverse.