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Israel has launched a new large-scale offensive in the Gaza Strip as part of the first phase of the military operation called “Gideon’s Chariot”. This was reported by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), The Times of Israel reports.
According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the main goal of the state remains unchanged – the complete destruction of the Hamas group.
“Over the past 24 hours, the IDF launched large-scale attacks and mobilised forces to seize strategic areas in the Gaza Strip… in order to achieve all of the war’s objectives, including the release of hostages and the defeat of Hamas,” the military said in a statement.
The operation involves not only offensive actions, but also the displacement of civilians to the south, control of humanitarian flows and the retention of territory under Israeli control.
Israel has also released video footage of strikes on targets in Gaza, including infrastructure that Tel Aviv claims is used by Hamas.
This stage of the offensive comes as Hamas still holds some 57 Israeli hostages out of the 250 abducted on 7 October 2023 in a bloody attack that claimed the lives of more than 1,200 Israelis.
Another important geopolitical backdrop for the start of the operation was the visit of US President Donald Trump to the Middle East, in particular Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE. Interestingly, Israel is not on the US leader’s itinerary, which is already causing political debate in Washington and Tel Aviv.
