Aid Agencies Urge Intervention as Israel Begins Military Action in Gaza City

The appeal for action comes as Israel has been calling for the evacuation of the residents of Gaza City, Gaza Strip, since Sept. 9.

Displaced Palestinians flee the northern Gaza Strip along the coastal road toward the south, as Israel announced an expanded operation in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, on Sept. 16, 2025. Abdel Kareem Hana /AP Photo

Leaders of more than 20 aid agencies urged the international community on Sept. 17 to intervene in the Gaza Strip, calling on all parties to “disavow violence against civilians ... and pursue peace.”

The aid groups, including the Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children, and Action for Humanity, said in a joint statement that states must use every available tool at their disposal. The letter does not mention the Hamas terrorist group or the Israeli hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.

“Governments must act to prevent the evisceration of life in the Gaza Strip,” it reads.

Israel first announced that residents of Gaza City, Gaza Strip, must evacuate to the south on Sept. 9, when Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted the evacuation route on X in Arabic.

At the time, he said that the IDF was “determined to eliminate Hamas and will operate in the Gaza [City] area with great force.”

The joint letter came a day after a U.N. report stated that Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, a finding that Israel rejected.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry described the report as biased and said that the Hamas terrorist group “is the party that attempted genocide in Israel” during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which saw more than 1,200 people killed and about 250 people kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip.

On Sept. 16, the IDF spokesperson announced the beginning of the operation against Gaza City.

According to the IDF on Sept. 16, more than 40 percent of the residents have already evacuated Gaza City.

The international aid groups said the displacement of people was forcing them into “increasingly shrinking pockets of land that cannot sustain human life.”

However, according to the IDF, the humanitarian infrastructure in the southern Gaza Strip, including parts of Khan Younis and Al-Mawasi, is ready for the expected population and is able to ensure the delivery of aid.

Aid agencies said about 65,000 Palestinians have been killed since the onset of the conflict, referring to figures provided by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in the count. The Epoch Times cannot verify the accuracy of the figure.

Global Debate

The call by the aid groups precedes a U.N. summit in New York City on Sept. 22, where French President Emmanuel Macron and several other leaders are expected to endorse a declaration for a two-state solution.

Israel and the United States oppose the push, as it rewards Hamas for its attack on Israel.

Israeli officials have criticized the planned move by France, the UK, Canada, Belgium, and Australia, while Washington has stated that it can only be established through negotiation with Israel.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has called the efforts to recognize a Palestinian state destabilizing and an incentive for Hamas to prolong the war. He said the Palestinian Authority supports terrorism and does not merit recognition. He has urged world leaders to back Israel against jihadist groups.

At a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sept. 15, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed international moves toward recognizing a Palestinian state as “largely symbolic” and driven by domestic politics.

“They have really no impact whatsoever in bringing about—bringing us any closer to a Palestinian state,“ Rubio said. ”The only impact they actually have is it makes Hamas feel more emboldened. It actually has made it harder. It’s actually served as an impediment to peace.”

After his visit to Israel, Rubio met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha, Qatar, on Sept. 16. Qatar criticized Israel’s ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and called it an “extension of the war of genocide against the brotherly Palestinian people.”

The statement came after the meeting, at which Rubio reaffirmed the strong bilateral relationship between Washington and Doha, thanking Qatar for mediation efforts to end the war and secure the release of hostages.

Speaking to journalists on Sept. 16 as he departed for a state visit to the UK, U.S. President Donald Trump warned that Hamas would be in “big trouble” if it used the hostages as human shields.

On social media, he wrote: “I have just read a News Report that Hamas has moved the hostages above ground to use them as human shields against Israel’s ground offensive. I hope the Leaders of Hamas know what they’re getting into if they do such a thing.”

Trump described the alleged move as a “human atrocity,” warning that if it occurred, all bets would be off. He urged Hamas to release all hostages immediately.