Israel has launched an “extensive” ground operation in the north and south of Gaza after airstrikes reportedly killed 135 Palestinians across the enclave overnight.
The Israeli military announced this latest offensive, part of Operation “Gideon’s Chariots”, on Sunday after a lack of progress in indirect talks with Hamas in Qatar.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has continued to escalate its attacks on Gaza in recent days, with at least 464 Palestinians killed between 11-17 May, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. One report over the weekend suggested Israel is looking to divide Gaza into three tightly controlled strips of land if no ceasefire is agreed, while another claimed the US is developing a plan to relocate a million Palestinians to war-torn Libya.
Israel had warned an expanded assault would go ahead if no hostage deal was agreed with Hamas by the conclusion of US president Donald Trump’s trip to the Middle East, which ended on Friday.
One of Israel’s overnight strikes hit a tent encampment housing displaced families in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, killing women and children, wounding dozens and setting several tents ablaze. Medical officials said a family in northern Gaza lost at least 20 of its members, and three journalists and their families are also among the dead.
Hamas described the strike as a “new brutal crime” and blamed the US administration for the escalation.
“We have at least 100 martyrs since overnight,” Gaza health ministry spokesperson Khalil Al-Deqran said, before later updating that number to more than 130. “Complete families were wiped off the civil registration record by Israeli bombardment.”
Israel’s military said it had conducted a preliminary wave of strikes on more than 670 Hamas targets in Gaza over the past week, killing dozens of Hamas fighters.
“Troops have begun extensive ground operations throughout northern and southern Gaza as part of Operation ‘Gideon’s Chariots’,” the military wrote in a statement on Sunday. Local media also reported that tanks were heading towards Khan Younis and eastern Jabalia.
Israel has blocked the entry of medical, food and fuel supplies into Gaza since the start of March in an attempt to pressure Hamas into freeing Israeli hostages.
Hamas, for its part, says it will only free the hostages in return for an Israeli ceasefire.
Egyptian and Qatari mediators, backed by the United States, began a new round of indirect ceasefire talks between the two sides on Saturday, but there has been no breakthrough.
A Palestinian official close to the talks, which are taking place in the Qatari capital of Doha, said: “Hamas is flexible about the number of hostages it can free, but the problem has always been over Israel’s commitment to end the war.”
Israel’s declared goal in Gaza is the elimination of the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas, which attacked Israeli communities on 7 October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and seizing about 250 hostages.
The Israeli military campaign has devastated the enclave, pushing nearly all residents from their homes and killing more than 53,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities.
Conditions in Gaza continue to deteriorate as the war continues. The healthcare system is barely operational because of repeated Israeli bombardment and raids on hospitals. The blockade on aid supplies has compounded their difficulties while adding to widespread hunger, for which Israel blames Hamas.
“Hospitals are overwhelmed with the growing number of casualties, many are children, several cases of amputations and the hospitals, which have been hit repeatedly by the occupation, are struggling with shortages of medical supplies,” Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Khalil al-Deqran said.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said 75 per cent of its ambulances could not run because of fuel shortages. It warned that within 72 hours, all vehicles may stop.
The latest offensive comes after NBC reported the Trump administration was in talks with Libya about relocating large numbers of Palestinians. White House sources told NBC News that the idea had been discussed with Libya’s leadership and is under serious consideration. In exchange, the Trump administration would release to Libya billions of dollars of funds the US froze more than a decade ago.
A map leaked by diplomats to The Times also reportedly shows Israeli plans for three tightly controlled strips of civilian land in southern, central and northern Gaza, separated by four exclusively military zones.
Under the plans, titled “Stage Three: the complete takeover of Gaza”, Palestinians would be forbidden to move between the strips without permission, potentially separating people from their land and homes, foreign firms briefed on the plans and tasked with distributing humanitarian aid told the outlet.
According to The Times, roads and infrastructure are already being built on the remains of people’s homes, with the clearing of land needed for the new and expanded military zones expected to take at least three weeks.
In Israel, Mr Netanyahu continues to face criticism for his approach to the conflict. Einav Zangauker, the mother of Hamas hostage Matan Zangauker, said the Israeli prime minister was refusing to end the war in exchange for the hostages because of his political interests.
“The Israeli government still insists on only partial deals. They are deliberately tormenting us. Bring our children back already! All 58 of them,” Ms Zangauker wrote in a social media post.
And tens of thousands of protesters marched through The Hague on Sunday, demanding a tougher stance from the Dutch government against Israel’s war in Gaza.
The demonstration, organised by Oxfam Novib, followed a march in London on Saturday that was attended by tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters marking the anniversary of the 1948 Nakba.
