Israel announced a major new military operation in the Gaza Strip as the territory’s Health Ministry said Israeli strikes had killed more than 150 people over the previous 24 hours. The escalation combined intensified bombardment with continued pressure on Hamas over hostages, while indirect negotiations remained under way in Qatar.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Operation Gideon Chariots was being conducted with great force. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said increased military pressure was intended to destroy Hamas and secure the release of hostages still held in Gaza. Israel estimated that as many as 23 hostages remained alive, though officials had raised concerns about three of them.
The Gaza Health Ministry said more than 3,000 people had been killed since Israel ended a January ceasefire on March 18. The supplied account did not provide independent verification of the overall 24-hour figure. It documented several local incidents through hospitals and emergency services, including strikes around Jabaliya, Deir al-Balah and Gaza City.
Al-Awda Hospital said one strike on a house in the Jabaliya refugee camp killed at least four children and wounded seven people. A later attack in Jabaliya killed four more, according to the hospital. Around Deir al-Balah, 14 bodies arrived at Al-Aqsa Hospital after airstrikes; one house strike reportedly killed eight members of a family, including four children. Gaza’s emergency service said another strike outside a school sheltering displaced residents in Gaza City killed four people. Israel did not immediately comment on those specific attacks.
The Israeli military separately said it had killed dozens of fighters and dismantled an underground route in northern Gaza. Its expanding operations drove families from Jabaliya, with residents carrying belongings through streets bordered by damaged buildings as strikes continued nearby.
Diplomatic efforts had not stopped. Netanyahu instructed Israel’s negotiating team to remain in Doha for indirect talks and stayed in contact with the delegation and US envoy Steve Witkoff, according to an Israeli official. Hamas was seeking an agreement that would end the war and bring an Israeli withdrawal, conditions Israel said it would not accept.
The offensive also unfolded during the third month of Israel’s blockade on food, water, fuel and other goods entering Gaza. Food-security specialists warned famine would follow unless restrictions were lifted. A new US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation planned to begin distributing aid later in May, but the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations declined to join, saying the proposed system did not meet humanitarian principles or the population’s needs.
The simultaneous military escalation, severe supply restrictions and unresolved negotiations left civilians facing displacement and hunger while families of hostages continued to demand an agreement for their return.
