May 2025 Gaza offensive

Last updated

May 2025 Gaza conflict
Part of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip during the Gaza war
October 2023 Gaza-Israel conflict.svg
   Gaza Strip under Palestinian control
  Gaza Strip under Israeli control
  Furthest Israeli advance in Gaza Strip
  Evacuated areas inside Israel
  Maximum extent of the October 7 attacks
  Area of Gaza subject to Israeli evacuation orders

See here for a more detailed map.
Date16 May 2025 – present
(2 months and 3 days)
Location
Result
  • Ongoing
    • ~65% of Gaza under Israeli military control [1]
    • ~80% of Gaza outside Hamas control (per Hamas officer) [2]
Belligerents
Flag of Israel.svg Israel Flag of al-Qassam Brigades.svg Hamas
InfoboxPIJ.svg Palestinian Islamic Jihad
Hand drawn PFLP logo.jpg Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Units involved
Casualties and losses
400+ killed, 1,000+ injured [3]

On 4 May 2025, Israel's security cabinet approved a plan to expand its military offensive in the Gaza Strip. Codenamed Operation Gideon's Chariots (Hebrew : מבצע מרכבות גדעון), the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) aim to defeat Hamas, destroy its military and governing capabilities, and take control over three quarters of the Gaza Strip. The operation involves combined military force from land, air, and sea. [4] [5] On 16 May, Israel announced the launch of the operation. [6] [7] As of 4 July, the Israeli military controls approximately 65% of the Gaza Strip, most of which was captured during this offensive. [1] The United Nations Human Rights Office condemned the offensive as tantamount to ethnic cleansing. [8]

Contents

Hamas has responded with a counter-offensive that it calls Stones of David, consisting of a series of ambushes and small-scale military operations against the IDF. [9] [10]

Background

The operation was approved against the backdrop of ongoing confrontations with Hamas, the holding of Israeli hostages in Gaza, and the need to prevent the continued security threat to Israeli communities surrounding Gaza. The operation was developed by the IDF Chief of Staff and senior IDF command echelons, and approved by the Defense Minister and Prime Minister. [11] It was unanimously approved by Israel’s Security Cabinet on 4 May 2025. [12] The operation is named after the biblical warrior Gideon, who led a successful battle against the Midianites. [13] [14]

Plan

The main objectives of "Operation Gideon's Chariots" are twofold – to completely destroy Hamas's military and administrative infrastructure so that the organization can no longer exert any influence in Gaza, and to rescue the Israeli hostages held in Gaza since Hamas's attack on 7 October 2023. [15] The operation includes a significant reinforcement of IDF forces, ground maneuvering deep into the Gaza Strip, and the use of heavy equipment to neutralize explosive devices and destroy buildings that the IDF says are used as terrorist infrastructure. [16] [17] On 19 May, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel plans to "take control of the entire Gaza Strip." [3]

Offensive

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. [18]

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. [3]

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. [3] 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." [19]

On 20 May, at least 49 people were killed in overnight strikes. [3]

On 21 May, Israeli forces killed at least 82 people. [20] Al-Awda Hospital was shelled by Israeli forces. [21]

On 25 May, the Gaza Government Media Office reported that the IDF was in control of 77% of the Gaza Strip. [22]

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. [23] The IDF issued new evacuation orders displacing Palestinians in Khan Yunis, Bani Suheila, Abasan, and al-Qarara. [24] The IDF initiated a renewed ground offensive into Khan Yunis. [25]

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. [26]

On 28 May, Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades announced the beginning of its "Stones of David" counteroffensive with a first attack in Beit Lahia. [9]

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. [27] 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. [28]

On 30 May, Israeli attacks killed more than 72 Palestinians and injured at least 278. [29]

On 31 May, Israeli attacks killed 60 and injured 284 people. [30] 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. [31]

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. [32] [33]

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. [34] [35] [36] The International Committee of the Red Cross meanwhile reported 184 injuries. [36] Hamas meanwhile stated that so far at least 102 people had been killed and more than 490 wounded while seeking aid. [37] 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. [38]

On 7 June, Palestinians reported "intense battles" near the European Hospital in Khan Yunis. [39]

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. [40]

July

On 3 July, Palestinian Islamic Jihad stated that it destroyed an Israeli military vehicle in al-Qarara. [41]

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. [42] In response to the attack, the IDF encircled Beit Hanoun on 9 July. [43]

Reactions

See also

References

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  2. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gk79xlzwjo
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