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IDF forces in the southern Gaza Strip this week. The families of the hostages have expressed great concern in recent weeks about the decision to launch the operation. Credit: Courtesy of the IDF. Published by Haaretz

A Palestinian man carries the body of a child killed in Israeli strikes,‏ in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday. Credit: Mahmoud Issa/Reuters. Published by Haaretz

Palestinians struggle to receive donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, on Friday. Credit: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP. Published by Haaretz

Israeli military forces, on the Gaza Strip border this week. One of the main difficulties in the operation concerns the worsening humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. Credit: Ilan Assayag. Published by Haaretz

Mourners react during the funeral of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, at the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Thursday.Credit: Mahmoud Issa/Reuters

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by IMEMC News
May 17, 2025

On Friday, the Israeli army continued the bombing and shelling of various parts of the starved, besieged and devastated Gaza Strip, killing at least 115 Palestinians, and wounding more than 200, including many children and women, across the coastal enclave.

In northern Gaza, particularly in the eastern and western regions, sudden airstrikes directly targeted civilians.

More than ten residential buildings in Beit Lahia and Jabalia were hit, resulting in dozens of deaths and leaving many Palestinians missing beneath the rubble.

Israeli forces struck the main road in the Al-Salatin area, west of Beit Lahia, just as rescue teams were entering to assist civilians, forcing them to retreat through side streets.

In Jabalia’s Tal Az-Za’tar neighborhood, a missile attack on the Abu ‘Awn family home killed three Palestinians and injured several others.

Also, Israeli missiles killed nurse Mohammad Hassan Al-Mabhouh while he was on duty, following the targeting of Al-Tawba Medical Clinic in Jabalia refugee camp.

Further south, in Khan Younis, seven civilians, including children, were killed in an airstrike. Local sources reported that Israeli warplanes struck a house and a civilian vehicle between Bani Suhaila and Al-Fukhari, killing seven people, including three children, and wounding many others.

Among the victims in the vehicle were Atwa Al-Amour and his three orphaned grandchildren, whose father had been killed in a previous airstrike a few months earlier.

Medical teams confirmed that the children’s bodies were severely burned and dismembered due to the attack.

Arkan Osama Fareed Assaf, the only surviving member of his family, sustained critical injuries at dawn today in northern Gaza after an Israeli assault involving fire belts. He is suffering from a complex femur fracture and severe facial disfigurement. Arkan joins the rising toll of children affected by the war—over 30,000 injured and more than 40,000 orphaned across Gaza.

Additionally, three Palestinians, including a woman and a young girl, were killed, and many others wounded, when a missile struck an apartment building in Khan Younis’ Sheikh Hamad area.

In Rafah, in Gaza’s southmost part, an Israeli drone fired a missile at displaced Palestinians in the Nasr neighborhood, northeast of the city, killing Sa’id Ahmad Jarghoun and injuring several others.

In Gaza City, at least four Palestinians were killed and many wounded when an Israeli military drone targeted a car near the Al-Andalos Towers in the northwest.

Medical sources also reported that Palestinian Ahmad Nidal Mansour succumbed to serious injuries sustained in a previous airstrike that hit a building housing displaced families west of Gaza City.

“Furthermore, the Israeli army blew up an entire neighborhood on Omar Ben Khattab Road in Gaza City.

In central Gaza, medical crews recovered two additional bodies, one near Abu Holi junction, south of Deir al-Balah, which was transported to Al-Aqsa Hospital, and another, Mahmoud Bashir Abu Ammouna, retrieved from his family’s previously targeted home east of the European Hospital in Khan Younis.

Hospitals in Gaza are facing a severe blood shortage, as residents are unable to donate due to widespread anemia caused by malnutrition.

Malnutrition has reached its most critical stage, categorized as Level 5 by the World Health Organization, resulting in visible signs of starvation that are severely impacting vital functions. Injuries and deaths have surged in Gaza’s hospitals in recent days due to intensified Israeli bombardment.

Israeli airstrikes have destroyed 85% of Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure, severely limiting medical services and the ability to treat injured civilians.

The devastation has been described as surpassing the definition of genocide, with a growing number of critical cases overwhelming hospitals.

Conditions in northern Gaza remain dire under relentless bombing. Dozens of casualties remain beneath rubble and in the streets, while Israeli forces continue targeting anyone moving in these areas. Emergency crews face extreme difficulty reaching the wounded due to ongoing attacks.

UNICEF reported that Israeli forces have killed 45 children in Gaza over the past two days, describing it as “another devastating reminder that children in Gaza are suffering above all, forced to endure hunger day after day, only to become victims of indiscriminate attacks.”

In a press statement, UNICEF called for an immediate end to the daily suffering and killings.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that Israeli attacks continue to impact healthcare facilities, including Gaza’s European Hospital in Khan Younis, which is now completely out of service.

The hospital’s closure has cut off critical medical services such as neurosurgery, cardiac care, and cancer treatment, none of which are available elsewhere in Gaza.

WHO emphasized that shutting down the facility eliminates a vital medical evacuation center, further straining an already overwhelmed healthcare system.

Late Friday, the Israeli military announced the launch of “Operation Gideon’s Chariots” and the expansion of its offensive in Gaza, following a sharp escalation in airstrikes and shelling that has resulted in hundreds of deaths and injuries.

In a statement, the military said, “Over the past day, the army has intensified its strikes and deployed forces to seize control of areas in Gaza. This marks the initial phases of ‘Operation Gideon’s Chariots’ and the expansion of the offensive, aimed at achieving all war objectives, including securing the release of hostages and defeating Hamas.”

In a separate development, reports indicate that the Trump administration explored a plan to relocate up to one million Palestinians from Gaza to Libya. Sources suggest that the idea was under serious consideration, with discussions reportedly held between U.S. officials and Libyan leadership.

The proposed relocation was allegedly tied to the release of frozen Libyan assets, amounting to billions of dollars, which had remained inaccessible in the United States for over a decade.

However, U.S. officials later dismissed the claim, stating that such a plan “was neither discussed nor viable.”

Hamas representatives also stated that they had no knowledge of any conversations regarding the potential transfer of Gaza residents to Libya.

The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed that Gaza hospitals received, by Friday evening, the bodies of 115 Palestinians, killed in the past 24 hours, in addition to more than 200 wounded. Many slain and injured individuals remain trapped under rubble.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed at least 53,119 Palestinians, including 18,000 children, 12,400 women, and 243 journalists, while injuring more than 120,214, mostly children and women, across the war-torn Gaza Strip.
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Over 140 Palestinians Killed as Israeli Army Expands Ground Offensive Across Gaza

Massive air strikes preceded the offensive across Gaza, which killed hundreds of Palestinians. About one hundred people were reportedly killed on Friday, including children

Amos Harel, Rawan Suleiman, The Associated Press and Reuters. Published by Haaretz
May 17, 2025 2:13 pm IDT

The Israeli military began expanding its ground offensive across the Gaza Strip as part of a new operation it dubs Gideon's Chariots on Friday. Military forces predominantly consisting of non-reservist, regular units, are operating throughout Gaza's north, center and south.

Massive air strikes, which killed hundreds of Palestinians in recent days, preceded the ground offensive. At least 146 people were killed in the past 24 hours, with 58 killed overnight into Saturday, the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry reported. According to reports from the Gaza Strip, many of those killed are civilians and children.

The expansion of the ground operation appears to be timed to coincide with the end of U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to the Middle East, in which he visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, but not Israel.

It remains unclear whether the United States and Israel coordinated the timing and whether the U.S. administration gave the green light for an operation intended to defeat Hamas.

One of the central challenges of the operation concerns the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza. In recent weeks, diplomatic and defense officials have worked to formulate a new plan for the distribution of humanitarian aid to Palestinians, one that would remove Hamas from the equation. But such a move is expected to face significant obstacles.

In the meantime, food shortages in the enclave are growing more severe, with security sources warning that within ten days, the situation could deteriorate into a full-blown humanitarian disaster.

In the past 24 hours, both Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed concern over the worsening hunger Gaza. This comes after Trump announced that Gaza needed to be turned into a "freedom zone," meaning that the U.S. would seize control over the area.

After the IDF issued major call-up orders to tens of thousands of reservists over the past two weeks, only a minority of them were directed to the Gaza Strip. The majority of the units were sent to the West Bank, the Syrian border and Lebanon, freeing up regular forces for a move south.

Hostage families have expressed grave concern over the decision to launch the ongoing operation, with parents of hostages saying that it could put the lives of their children at extreme risk.

In recent days, both Netanyahu and U.S. President Trump said that there are 20 living hostages in Gaza, out of the 58 held by Hamas. The Israeli delegation dealing with negotiations for their release is currently still in Qatar.

Media outlets from Arab countries reported in the meantime that Israeli military forces operating in the Gaza Strip carried out massive attacks throughout Friday night and Saturday morning, most of them targeting Beit Lahia and Jabalya in northern Gaza.

Marwan Al-Sultan, director of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, told the Palestinian Center for Communication that the hospital was under attack as well. According to the reports, the Israeli military also struck Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Yunis in the enclave's south.

The number of people killed in Israeli military strikes has significantly increased in the last week. From Sunday to Tuesday, approximately 20 to 50 people were killed every day. According to authorities in Gaza, at least 70 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday and 120 were killed on Thursday.

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