Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced on May 18 that its troops had begun “broad” ground operations in several areas of the Gaza Strip, as part of the opening phase of a new major offensive against the Hamas Movement.
Israel began preparing for the offensive, codenamed “Operation Gideon’s Chariots,” earlier this month. Thousands of reservists were called up and elite formations were deployed to Gaza from other fronts.
Israeli officials stated earlier that the large-scale offensive would see the IDF “conquer” Gaza and retain the territory, attack Hamas, prevent the group from taking control of humanitarian aid supplies, and move Palestinians from the Strip’s north to its south.
“Over the past day, IDF troops in the Southern Command, both the standing army and reserves, began a broad ground operation throughout the northern and southern Gaza Strip, as part of the start of Operation Gideon’s Chariots,” the military said in a statement.
The Israeli Air Force struck over 670 Hamas targets in Gaza “in order to disrupt the enemy’s preparations and assist the ground operation” in recent days, according to the IDF, which noted that the targets included weapons depots, cells of fighters, tunnels and anti-tank launch sites.
The military also said that the Israelis killed “dozens of terrorists,” and destroyed “terrorist infrastructure” above and below ground, “and are now holding strategic areas in the Strip.”
The Hamas-run authorities in Gaza said that widespread Israeli airstrikes overnight and into the morning killed at least 100 people.
Just prior to the IDF’s announcement, a report by the Sunday Times revealed that an Israeli plan to move civilians in Gaza into three areas separated and bookended by four zones controlled by the military as a part of Operation Gideon’s Chariots. The British news outlet said that it had seen a map that was leaked by diplomats who were briefed on the proposal.
A few hours into ground operations, DF spokesman, Brigadier General Effie Defrin, in a press statement from the Gaza border, said that five divisions were working inside the Strip.
“We are moving to a new stage in the fighting. During the operation, we will increase and expand our operational control in the Gaza Strip, while bisecting the Strip and moving the population for its safety, in all the areas where we will operate,” the spokesman said.
“Unlike previously, we are now concentrating on the offensive effort in the Gaza Strip, and carrying out an offensive until the defeat [of Hamas] in the areas we will operate,” he added.
From his side, IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said during a visit to Gaza that the military will give Israel’s political leadership “flexibility” to advance a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas. Some 53 hostages remain in the Strip, including at least 23 who are believed to be still alive.
“We have launched a ground operation as part of Operation ‘Gideon’s Chariots.’ The directive is clear: defeat the enemy and destroy its infrastructure wherever we operate. The IDF will allow flexibility for the political echelon to advance any hostage deal,” Zamir said in remarks published by the IDF.
“A hostage deal. This is not a halt; it is an achievement. We are working toward it,” he added.
Hamas has already shown willingness to reach a new agreement. A senior official from the group CNN on May 18 announced the release of between seven to nine Israeli hostages in exchange for a two-month ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and the release of 300 Palestinian security prisoners was on the table.
The unnamed official said that this deal would also be contingent on the IDF agreeing to withdraw “east of the Salah al-Din Corridor,” meaning, to the outskirts of Gaza.
However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to be more interested in going forward with the ongoing offensive.
“We’ve launched a massive campaign against Hamas…IDF forces are pushing powerfully into the Gaza Strip with a dual objective: the defeat of Hamas and the release of our hostages — two goals that are intertwined, and we will achieve both,” the premier said in a video message posted to the X social network.
“I’ve also heard the media still repeating their old line — ‘You can’t win’,” continued Netanyahu.
“They need to stop with that. Have we achieved no victory against Hezbollah? No victory over [former Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad? Did we not [achieve battlefield victory] in other places?” he added.
“Of course, we still face major challenges — we have Iran, we still have Hamas,” he said. “We understand this, but we will complete the victory we set as our goal in the Gaza Strip. It will be fully achieved, including the release of all our hostages.
Still, faced with increasing international pressure, Netanyahu later announced that he had approved the immediate resumption of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
In a statement confirming the decision, the Prime Minister’s Office said that this was done “at the recommendation of the IDF and due to the operational need to enable the expansion of intense fighting to defeat Hamas.”
He said that Israel “will allow the entry of a basic quantity of food for the population in order to prevent the development of a hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip,” as such a crisis “would endanger the continued operation to defeat Hamas.”
“Israel will act to deny Hamas the ability to seize control of the distribution of humanitarian aid in order to ensure that the aid does not reach Hamas terrorists,” he concluded.
Overall, Israel appears to be determined to go on with its new offensive in Gaza. The deal suggested by Hamas will not likely satisfy Netanyahu.
The battle in the Strip won’t be without losses for the IDF, as Hamas and other armed factions there demonstrated their willingness to resist in recent weeks by killing several Israeli soldiers.
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ruzzia: humiliation complete! time to retreat from the mediterranean sea.
shitfront idiots still think hamas is winning…heheheheeh
without the stand down order on october 7th the entire events would have been a joke. instead the power hungry lunatic bibi sent his own military to kill his own people and create the conditions for genocide. if it were 80 years ago he would be arrested for crimes against humanity and waging aggressive war. perhaps we will see a return to a more sane world and he will face a court of his own people: he has killed them for personal benefit.
the greater israel project abomination . nothing good can be said for those who enable or allow this .
just as what they did to syria and lebanon and soon jordan they need some land there too
the not so chosen one from poland and europe are given the green light by usa and europe to commit genocide.
wait a second sf. you seem like cheering for monsters, while playing neutral, nkw of the sudden. there’s no neutrality here! looks like you are playing good nazi bad nazi with us.