Israel’s military just flipped the switch on one of its most aggressive ground offensives yet in Gaza, plowing into both the northern and southern regions of the strip under the banner of Operation Gideon’s Chariots.
The move followed a punishing round of overnight airstrikes that, according to local medical authorities, left over 100 people dead.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Sunday that its troops had launched widespread ground maneuvers across the enclave, even as ceasefire talks drag on in Doha. While diplomacy inches forward, the battlefield shows no signs of slowing down.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office made it clear: Israel’s team in Qatar is chasing every last chance at a deal, but any agreement must check three non-negotiables—free the remaining hostages, kick Hamas out of Gaza, and ensure the territory is fully demilitarized.
That’s a tall order, especially with negotiations going nowhere fast since March, when the previous ceasefire fell apart. Mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and the U.S. haven’t been able to bridge the chasm between Israel’s hardline demands and Hamas’ flat-out refusal to disarm.
In the past week alone, Israeli airstrikes have hit over 670 Hamas-linked sites, according to the IDF. The price in lives has been steep—more than 400 killed just this week, including over 100 in the most recent overnight assault, The Times of Israel reported.
Israel pins the blame for civilian deaths squarely on Hamas, accusing the group of embedding its fighters and weapons in crowded neighborhoods and using civilians as shields.
But inside Gaza, the story looks grim. Hospitals are running on fumes, overwhelmed by a flood of casualties—many of them children—and facing dire shortages of basic supplies. “We’re collapsing under the weight of the wounded,” said Health Ministry spokesman Khalil al-Deqran. The Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza has shut its doors entirely, leaving a medical vacuum in the region.
Since March, Gaza’s Health Ministry estimates the death toll has surpassed 3,000.
Israel’s broader goal with Gideon’s Chariots is to seize key ground, dismantle Hamas’ warfighting and political command, and stop the group from hijacking aid convoys. The IDF also plans to move civilians southward, aiming to distance them from combat hotspots and Hamas installations.
To squeeze Hamas even harder, Israel has cut off all humanitarian aid—no fuel, no food, no medicine. The strategy? Starve the group of resources while trying to peel civilians away from its grip.
Over in Baghdad, UN Secretary-General António Guterres didn’t mince words during an Arab League summit. He called the escalating bloodshed “deeply alarming” and pleaded for a genuine, lasting ceasefire. UN agencies echoed the alarm, warning that Gaza’s population is facing catastrophic shortages of life’s basics.
The current war traces back to October 2023, when Hamas stunned Israel with a sudden assault that killed 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages. While many have since been released, roughly 58 are still unaccounted for in Gaza.
And with ground forces pushing in and diplomacy stalling out, the region’s most volatile front shows no sign of cooling off.
