The Israeli military on Sunday announced it has begun extensive ground operations throughout northern and southern Gaza as part of a new assault on the territory. This comes as ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas have been continuing in Qatar for a second day amid reports of little progress. In a statement posted on X, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) wrote: “Over the past week, the IAF conducted a preliminary wave of strikes, striking over 670 Hamas terror targets throughout Gaza to disrupt enemy preparations and support ground operations. The IAF continues to provide consistent support to operating troops in Gaza. Thus far, the troops eliminated dozens of terrorists, dismantled terrorist infrastructure sites above and below ground, and are currently being deployed in key positions within Gaza. The IDF will continue to operate against the terrorist organizations in Gaza as required, in order to defend Israeli civilians.” 𝐈𝐃𝐅 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐆𝐚𝐳𝐚 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 “𝐆𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐬” Over the past week, the IAF conducted a… pic.twitter.com/3qZq1ngMfH — Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 18, 2025 Earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested that Tel Aviv was open to a deal with Hamas that would include “ending the fighting” in Gaza, but laid out conditions that have been repeatedly refused by the Palestinian militant group. Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 130 Palestinians across Gaza overnight, according to Palestinian health officials. However, Gaza’s health ministry said all public hospitals in the north of the territory were “out of service” after relentless Israeli bombardments. The territory’s health ministry accused Israel of “intensifying its systematic campaign to target hospitals”, targeting and sieging the Indonesian hospital in the north of the Strip, which has reportedly been knocked out of service. Earlier on Saturday, Israel’s military announced the launch of “Operation Gideon’s Chariot”, which it said could lead to the seizure of swaths of Gaza and the displacement of much of the population to its south.
