An Israeli tank maneuvers in Gaza, on May 16, 2025. (Credit: Ammar Awad/Reuters.)
The Israeli army announced on Saturday it was expanding its offensive to defeat Hamas in the Gaza Strip, where its bombings killed ten people in the morning, according to rescue workers, after several days of deadly shelling of the devastated and starving territory.
From Baghdad, where he is attending an Arab League summit, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed being "alarmed by reports of Israel's plans to extend its ground operations," once again calling for a "permanent cease-fire" and the end of the Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid, in effect since March 2.
Despite increasing international criticism over its handling of the conflict and the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in the Palestinian territory, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned on Monday of an impending "forceful" entry of the army into Gaza to "complete the operation and defeat Hamas," whose attack on Israel on Octo7, 2023, triggered the war.
Shortly after the end of U.S. President Donald Trump's Gulf tour, who was moved by the hunger in the Palestinian territory, the Israeli army stated it had "launched extensive strikes during the past day and transferred forces to take control of areas in the Gaza Strip."
"This is part of the initial steps ... in expanding the offensive in the Gaza Strip, aiming to achieve all war objectives, including the release of hostages and the defeat of Hamas," it developed early Saturday on social networks.
"Historical Opportunity"
The plan, announced at the beginning of May by the government, aims to permanently establish the Israeli military presence in Gaza - from where Israel withdrew in 2005 - at the cost of displacing "most" of its 2.4 million inhabitants to the far south of the territory.
Gaza Civil Defense reported ten people killed in the morning by Israeli raids in Jabalia (north) and Khan Younis (south), after counting at least 280 deaths between Wednesday and Friday.
At the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Rim Abou Hashem mourns the loss of an "entire family": her sister, brother-in-law, and their little girl, "all killed together" in their apartment.
The director of the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia, near Jabalia, Marwan Sultan, describes to AFP a "tragic and catastrophic" situation, after a bombing near the facility on Saturday morning. The institution is overwhelmed with patients and wounded and severely lacks "blood units, medication, and medical and surgical supplies" to the point of "no longer being able to accommodate critical cases."
The previous day, AFP images showed in this facility the injured being treated on the floor amid screams and cries.
From Baghdad, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on his American counterpart to "exert pressure" for a ceasefire and "the launch of a political process" with Trump as "mediator and patron." "We are concerned about Gaza. And we will ensure it is resolved. Many people are starving," the American president said the day before, called upon by Hamas to act so that Israel allows humanitarian aid to enter.
"Ethnic Cleansing"
We must "intensify our pressure on Israel to stop the massacre in Gaza," stated Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at the Arab summit, for whom the "unacceptable number" of Gazan victims violates the "principle of humanity."
The October 7th attack resulted in the death of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data. Of the 251 people then kidnapped, 57 remain held in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the army.
Israeli reprisals have killed at least 53,272 Gazans, mostly civilians, according to the latest data from Hamas's health ministry, deemed reliable by the U.N.
In view of the Israeli operations, "there seems to be a push for a permanent demographic change in Gaza," which "amounts to ethnic cleansing," warned U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Friday.
A U.S. and Israel-supported NGO, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, announced it is preparing to distribute humanitarian aid in Gaza at the end of the month. But the United Nations has excluded any participation in this initiative, citing "neutrality" concerns.
