May
On the night of 16–17 May, the IDF began a ground advance towards Deir al-Balah for the first time during the war. [26]
On 18 May, Israel claimed to have struck over 670 "Hamas targets" in a wave of preliminary airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, killing over 400 people and injuring another 1,000. [7]
On 19 May, Israeli forces killed at least 136 people and shuttered the last functioning hospital in north Gaza. Israel also struck the medical supplies warehouse of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, damaging the medical supplies provided by Medical Aid for Palestinians. [7] Israel ordered all residents of Khan Yunis to leave to al-Mawasi, with IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee declaring the entire area "a dangerous combat zone." [27]
On 20 May, at least 49 people were killed in overnight strikes. [7]
On 21 May, Israeli forces killed at least 82 people. [28] Al-Awda Hospital was shelled by Israeli forces. [29]
On 25 May, the Gaza Government Media Office reported that the IDF was in control of 77% of the Gaza Strip. [30]
On 26 May, overnight Israeli strikes killed at least 54 Palestinians, including more than 35 killed in an airstrike on the Fahmi al-Jarjawi School in Gaza City. [31] The IDF issued new evacuation orders displacing Palestinians in Khan Yunis, Bani Suheila, Abasan, and al-Qarara. [32] The IDF initiated a renewed ground offensive into Khan Yunis. [33]
On 27 May, the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operations in Tel al-Sultan, Rafah, to deliver humanitarian aid. As thousands of starving Palestinians overwhelmed the distribution center, Israeli forces fired into the crowd, killing ten and injuring at least 62 people. [34]
On 28 May, Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades announced the beginning of its "Stones of David" counteroffensive with a first attack in Beit Lahia. [16]
On 29 May, Israeli attacks killed at least 70 people across Gaza, including more than 23 in attacks on residential buildings in Bureij refugee camp. [35] U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff proposed a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that involved the release of 10 living hostages and 18 dead hostages, as well as a 60-day truce. Israel accepted the proposal while Hamas started reviewing it, asserting that it did not include provisions for a permanent ceasefire. [36]
On 30 May, Israeli attacks killed more than 72 Palestinians and injured at least 278. [37]
On 31 May, Israeli attacks killed 60 and injured 284 people. [38] Hamas agreed to release 28 living and dead hostages but insisted that it requires a permanent ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. [39]
June
On 1 June, 31 Palestinians were killed and at least 150 were injured by Israeli tanks and gunfire as they gathered for aid at Rafah. [40] [41]
On 3 June, at least 27 civilians were killed and 161 more were injured after the Israeli military said that its forces had opened fire on a group of individuals who had left designated access routes near the distribution centre in Rafah. [42] [43] [44] The International Committee of the Red Cross meanwhile reported 184 injuries. [44] Hamas meanwhile stated that so far at least 102 people had been killed and more than 490 wounded while seeking aid. [45] On the next day, the IDF declared all roads leading to aid centers to be "combat zones," thereby closing the distribution centers for the day. [46]
On 7 June, Palestinians reported "intense battles" near the European Hospital in Khan Yunis. [47]
On 20 June the IDF said that it had killed Ibrahim Abu-Shamala, the financial chief of the Al-Qassam Brigades and a former aid to Marwan Issa. [48]
July
On 3 July, Palestinian Islamic Jihad stated that it destroyed an Israeli military vehicle in al-Qarara. [49]
The IDF began an offensive against Hamas in Beit Hanoun on 5 July. [50] On 8 July, the IDF reported that five soldiers were killed and 14 were injured, after the Al-Qassam Brigades detonated explosives as troops entered a location in Beit Hanoun. [51] In response to the attack, the IDF encircled Beit Hanoun on 9 July. [52]
On 20 July, the IDF issued evacuation orders for the city of Deir al-Balah, where it had not launched a ground offensive since the start of the war. [53]
On 31 July, a senior IDF official announced that the offensive would come to an end in the coming days. [8]
August: end of offensive
On 2 August, Israel declared victory in Beit Hanoun after clearing remaining Hamas militants. [54] Two days later, Israeli sources reported the offensive had ended. While the key territorial goal of taking control of over 75 percent of the Gaza Strip was achieved, other major objectives—defeating Hamas, retrieving live hostages, and relocating the Palestinian civilian population to the southern Gaza Strip—were not met, though several bodies of hostages were recovered. The IDF stated it did not plan to advance further in the Gaza Strip. [1] [2] [3] Israel's leadership, however, remained in deliberation over whether to push on, with plans approved on 7 August by the security cabinet to take control of Gaza City, a move likely to be followed by further operations beyond it. [55]
On 20 August, Israeli defense minister Israel Katz approved a planned offensive to take over Gaza City and named it "Operation Gideon's Chariots II", framing it as a second part to the first offensive. [18]
Israel 
Hamas 
48 Israeli soldiers killed [1] 
400+ killed
