May 2025 Gaza Offensive

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 (), 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. On 16 May, Israel announced the launch of the operation. As of 9 June, the Israeli military controls approximately 57% of the Gaza Strip, most of which was captured during this offensive. The United Nations Human Rights Office condemned the offensive as tantamount to ethnic cleansing.

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.

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. It was unanimously approved by Israel’s Security Cabinet on 4 May 2025. The operation is named after the biblical warrior Gideon, who led a successful battle against the Midianites.

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. 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. On 19 May, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel plans to "take control of the entire Gaza Strip."

Offensive

On the night of 16–17 May, the IDF began a ground advance towards Deir al-Balah for the first time during the war.

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.

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. 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."

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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. 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.

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

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

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.

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

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

On 20 June the IDF said that it had killed Ibrahim Abu-Shamala, the financial chief of Al-Qassam brigades and a former aid to Marwan Issa.

Reactions

* : Hamas rejected Israel's "pressure and blackmail." Hamas official Basem Naim said there was "no point in any negotiations" while the Gaza blockade remained in place.
* : President Donald Trump pledged to help get food to Palestinians in Gaza, stating that "a lot of people were starving" in Gaza. He also expressed that he had been trying to get Israel to "stop that whole situation as quickly as possible." Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. was "troubled" by the situation.
* : The UK said that it "does not support an expansion of Israel's military operations in Gaza." Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the situation "intolerable." Foreign Secretary David Lammy suspended free trade talks with Israel and condemned Netanyahu's plans to "drive Gazans from their homes into a corner of the strip." Lammy also imposed sanctions on several Israeli settlers in the West Bank and condemned Bezalel Smotrich's calls to ethnically cleanse Gaza as "monstrous."
* : Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the European Union could suspend its agreement with Israel unless the Gaza offensive was halted. In a joint statement with the United Kingdom and Canada, France condemned the offensive, calling it "disproportionate" and "egregious" and threatening sanctions.
* : Canada, along with France and the United Kingdom, condemned the offensive and threatened to take "concrete actions" including sanctions on Israel.
* : Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot called for sanctions against Israel and said that "only the word genocide" can describe what Israel was doing in Gaza.
* : Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the Israeli attacks "can no longer be justified as a fight against Hamas terrorism."
* : Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez condemned the invasion and called for Israel to be excluded from the Eurovision Song Contest. He also said that Israel was conducting "war for war's sake."
* : Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard condemned the Israeli plans to take over Gaza, stating "If this means annexation, it is against international law. Sweden stands firm in its belief that Gaza’s territory must not be changed or reduced."
* : Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Israel "cannot allow the suffering to continue" and condemned the "abhorrent and outrageous comments made by members of the Netanyahu Government about these people in crisis."
* : Pope Leo XIV called for "an end to the hostilities whose heartbreaking price is being paid by children, the elderly and sick people" and demanded the "entrance of dignified humanitarian aid to Gaza."
* : The EU expressed concern over "further casualties and suffering for the Palestinian population." It also condemned the expansion of the Israeli offensive as "abhorrent" and "disproportionate" and further stated that "Israeli strikes in Gaza go beyond what is necessary to fight Hamas." The EU began reviewing its trade ties with Israel following 19 months of war.
* : The UN called the situation "beyond description, beyond atrocious, and beyond inhumane" and stated that the proposal would constitute a breach of basic humanitarian principles. It also declared that it will not co-operate with Israeli forces.
** UN Human Rights Office: UN human rights chief Volker Türk condemned the offensive, calling its bombing campaign intended to displace Palestinians "tantamount to ethnic cleansing."

See also

* May 2025 Israeli attacks on Yemen
* 2025 Shuja'iyya offensive
* Battle of Khan Yunis (2025)

References

2025 in the Gaza Strip
2025 military operations
Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
May 2025 in Asia
May 2025 in Israel
Military operations of the Gaza war
{{Gaza war