CNN
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Israel launched a new, devastating ground attack in Gaza over the weekend, just as President Donald Trump left the region without sealing the ceasefire and hostage deal.
Israeli forces said troops have moved north and south to Gaza on the past day as part of the “Gideon Tank” operation, which Israel warned, if Hamas does not agree to a new hostage deal on its terms.
The ground operation came days after the heavy airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. It wiped out the entire family, according to health officials.
Israel says it will allow “basic amounts of food” to the enclaves. The move suggested by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to intense pressure from allies, and on Monday, Israeli agencies authorizing aid shipment to Gaza said five trucks had entered the enclave. However, UN Aid Chief Tom Fletcher described the delivery as “limitations” and “a sea drop in urgent needs.”
Meanwhile, British, French and Canadian leaders threatened on Monday that they would take “concrete actions” including targeted sanctions if Israel continues to stop new military attacks and keep aid from entering Gaza.
The latest development comes after Hamas and Israel began indirect talks in Qatar’s capital Doha on Saturday.
Here’s what we know about the new Israeli attack and what it means to Gazan:
Israel has been warning for several weeks about the “Tank of Gideon” operation, saying it aims to achieve “all goals of the war in Gaza,” including defeating Hamas and securing the release of remaining hostages on the territory.
The operation was approved by the country’s security ministers on May 5, a senior official told CNN earlier, adding that unlike in the past, the military would remain in the area it captured.
On Monday, Netanyahu said Israel is planning to “control the entire Gaza Strip.”
Fighting parties were unable to reach a deal during Trump’s visit last week, and Israel pressed for the operation over the weekend. This began with a string of heavy air strikes last week, and then expanded the attack on Sunday.
Israeli forces said on Sunday that they hit more than 670 “Hamas targets” in a wave of reserve airstrikes across the enclave last week.
Early on Monday morning, Israeli forces attacked the medical supplies warehouse at Nasser Medical Facility in the Khan Eunice area of South Gaza, damaging some of the medical supplies provided to the centre by Medical Assistance for Palestinians (MAP), according to a British-based organization.
Gaza health officials said Monday that the operation has killed at least 136 people in the last 24 hours and shut down the last functional hospital north of the enclave. The entire family was killed while he was asleep, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
More than 400 people have been killed and more than 1,000 have been injured since Thursday, according to CNN Count’s Ministry of Health data.
The ministry added that more than 53,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began the war on October 7, 2023, with the majority of the deaths being women and children.
On Sunday, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said due to “operational needs,” Israel would allow “basic amounts of food” to enter Gaza to prevent hunger in enclaves that Israel says will put military operations at risk.
Netanyahu also hinted that if it doesn’t lift the 11-week lockdown on its territory, it could lose support from its closest allies, including the United States.
The UN warned that Gaza’s entire population of over 2.1 million faces the risk of hunger after 19 months of conflict and mass displacement.
British, French and Canadian leaders are calling on the Israeli government to halt military operations in Gaza and allow humanitarian aid to enter.
“If Israel stops new military attacks and does not lift restrictions on humanitarian assistance, we will take further concrete actions accordingly,” the leader’s joint statement read.
These actions could include targeted sanctions, they warned.
If a “hunger situation” arises in Gaza, Israel “simply does not receive international support,” Netanyahu said.
“The closest allies in the world – even the US senators I personally know, even the US senators I know, who have been a stubborn and unconditional supporter of Israel for decades, “We are giving you all the support to achieve victory – our efforts to eliminate Hamas, our protection at the UN Security Council, and we can’t maintain the stars. Address posted to Telegram.
Netanyahu’s explanation was primarily intended to ease right-wing supporters who were determinedly opposed to humanitarian invasions into Gaza, including civilians.
Netanyahu’s office said Monday, “It will happen in the near future.”
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial US-backed organisation tasked with providing assistance to the territory, welcomed Israel’s announcement about allowing food aid as a “bridging mechanism” until the group is fully operational.
The foundation aims to implement new, closely controlled mechanisms for the delivery of aid approved by Israel and the United States.
Given that the only early sites are southern Gaza and central Gaza, this shows that Israel encourages Israel’s publicly stated goal of enforcing the “whole Gazan population” from northern Gaza.
Jakewood, the foundation’s executive director, said he agreed to allow Israel to establish two sites in northern Gaza.
Wood told CNN he still doesn’t know when or how many aid trucks will allow Israel to enter Gaza, and he believes much of the humanitarian community’s opposition to the mechanism is based on misinformation.
Rights advocates say the US and Israeli Assistance Program will militarize aid, put civilian lives at risk and encourage forced evacuation.
On Monday, the top chief of the UN Children’s Agency described the new GHF mechanism as “unfeasible,” saying the scheme “weaponizes humanitarian aid for children and women.”
“Israel as an occupation right is actually a legal responsibility to provide assistance,” James Elder told CNN’s Becky Anderson about Connect the World. “Even though more aid workers are killed than any other conflict… brave people are ready to do the job. They need to be allowed to do that.”
That came after UN aid director Tom Fletcher argued that there was no need for an alternative Gaza aid program. “Don’t waste your time. We already have plans,” he said Friday.
In one of the most powerful condemnations of Israel’s war by senior UN officials, Fletcher said the international community must prevent the “genocide” of enclaves. “Do you act resolutely to prevent genocide and ensure respect for international humanitarian law? Or do you say, ‘Did we do everything we can?” “He told the UN Security Council.
Trump visited Gulf Arab countries, including Qatar last week. In Qatar, his negotiation team was engaged in ceasefires and hostage consultations.
The president said this month that he ended the “brutal war” in Gaza and that he did not visit Israel during his tour of the region.
On Wednesday, Trump denied Israel was on the sidelines. “This is good for Israel,” he said. But on Thursday he said he wanted the US to “take” Gaza and turn it into a “free zone.”
He also told Fox News on Saturday that he was not unhappy with Netanyahu as the Israeli Prime Minister is in a “severe situation.” While on the Gulf, Trump acknowledged that people were hungry for Gaza and said the US had a situation where they had “care” to do so.
On Sunday, US envoy Steve Witkoff told ABC News that the issue of getting help to Gaza is primarily logistical. “It’s logistically complicated and ground conditions are dangerous,” he said.
Israeli Defense Minister Katz said on Saturday that a new military operation in Gaza put pressure on Hamas to return to negotiations in Qatar last week. However, analysts and officials say it is likely that the extremist group has agreed to resume talks after Trump’s visit to the Middle East.
Hamas Luxury Tar Al-Nunu confirmed on Saturday that “negotiations without prerequisites” had begun in Doha, Hamas Ran Al-Aqsa Television.
It is unclear how well the debate is progressing in Doha. Israel had shown on Sunday that if Hamas surrendered, it would end the war in Gaza, a proposition that the group would not be able to accept, as long as Israel continues to insist on disarming Hamas.
Meanwhile, Hamas officials have made conflicting comments about the consultation.
Earlier on Sunday, a senior Hamas leader told CNN that the group agreed to release seven to nine Israeli hostages in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 300 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Hours later, another senior Hamas leader, Sami Abu Zuri, denied the proposal and contradicted it, and posted a statement on Al-Aqsa Television’s telegram.
Zuhri went on to say: “We are ready to release prisoners at once and will not hand over the prisoners of the occupation as long as under international assurance, under the insurrection that the occupation commits to halting hostilities and insists that it will continue indefinitely with its attack on Gaza.”
