JERUSALEM — Israel has launched a major operation in the Gaza Strip to pressure Hamas to release remaining hostages, the defense minister said Saturday, following days of intensive strikes across the territory that killed hundreds of people.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Operation Gideon Chariots was being led with “great force” by Israel’s army.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed earlier in the week to escalate pressure on Hamas with the aim of destroying the militant group that has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades.
The operation comes as U.S. President Donald Trump concluded his trip to the region without a visit to Israel. There had been widespread hope that Trump’s trip could increase the chances of a ceasefire deal or the resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza, which Israel has prevented for more than two months.
Negotiations between Israel and Hamas have yet to achieve progress in Qatar’s capital, Doha. Hamas, which released an Israeli-American hostage as a goodwill gesture ahead of Trump’s Mideast trip, insists on a deal that ends the war – something Israel said it won’t agree to.
Israel’s army said in a post on X on Saturday that it was intensifying attacks and exerting “tremendous pressure” on Hamas across the strip. It said it will not stop until the hostages are returned and Hamas dismantled.
Of the hostages who remain in Gaza, Israel believes as many as 23 are still alive, although Israeli authorities have expressed concern for the status of three of those.
More than 150 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in the last 24 hours, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It said more than 3,000 have been killed since Israel broke a January ceasefire on March 18.
On Saturday afternoon, an Israeli strike killed at least four children in the Jabaliya refugee camp, according to Al-Awda Hospital, which received the bodies. Seven others were wounded in the strike, which hit a house.
Gaza has entered a third month of an Israeli blockade with no food, water, fuel or other goods entering the territory. Food security experts say Gaza will be in famine if the blockade isn’t lifted.
Earlier this week, a new humanitarian organization that has U.S. backing to take over aid delivery said it expects to begin operations before the end of the month – after what it describes as key agreements from Israeli officials.
A statement from the group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, identified several U.S. military veterans, former humanitarian coordinators and security contractors that it said would lead the delivery effort.
Many in the humanitarian community, including the U.N., said they won’t participate because the system does not align with humanitarian principles and won’t be able to meet the needs of Palestinians in Gaza.
A statement Friday by Tom Fletcher, the United Nations’ humanitarian chief, said the plan is “rooted in the non-negotiable principles” and that the U.N. has people ready to deliver assistance. He demanded the rapid, safe and unimpeded aid delivery for civilians.
The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 others. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.
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Magdy reported from Cairo, Egypt.
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