JERUSALEM (AP) 鈥 Israel said Saturday it launched a major military operation in the Gaza Strip to pressure Hamas to release remaining hostages, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a negotiating team to remain in Qatar for indirect talks with the militant group.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Operation Gideon Chariots was being led with 鈥済reat force.鈥 Netanyahu had vowed to escalate pressure with the aim of destroying the militant group that has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades.
The military operation in the Palestinian territory came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump without a visit to Israel. There had been hope that his visit could increase the chances of a ceasefire deal or the resumption of , which Israel has prevented for more than two months.
An Israel official said that Netanyahu was in constant contact throughout the day with the negotiating team in Doha, Qatar, and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, and instructed the team to remain there. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, because he wasn鈥檛 authorized to discuss the sensitive negotiations with the media.
Hamas, which released before Trump鈥檚 trip, insists on a deal that ends the war and leads to the withdrawal of Israeli forces 鈥 something Israel said that it won’t agree to.
Israel鈥檚 army said on social media it wouldn’t stop until the hostages are returned and the militant group is dismantled. Israel believes as many as 23 hostages in Gaza are still alive, although Israeli authorities have expressed concern for the status of three of them.
More than 150 people had been killed in Israeli strikes in the last 24 hours, according to Gaza鈥檚 Health Ministry. It said more than 3,000 have been killed since .
On Saturday afternoon, an Israeli strike killed at least four children in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north, according to al-Awda Hospital, which received the bodies. Seven others were wounded in the strike, which hit a house. A later strike in Jabaliya killed four, the hospital said.
Israel's relentless bombardment forced Palestinians to flee their homes and shelters in the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp on Saturday. Many families were seen walking in the streets, carrying whatever they could of their belongings. (AP production by Wafaa Shurafa / May 17, 2025)
“This is unacceptable. Until when? Until we all die?鈥 asked a sweating Naji Awaisa as he and others fled Jabaliya with their belongings down streets lined with shattered buildings. Smoke from airstrikes rose in the distance.
Airstrikes around Deir al-Balah in central Gaza killed 14 people, with the bodies arriving at al-Aqsa hospital. One strike on a house killed eight people, including parents and four children.
A strike hit outside a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, killing four, the Gaza Health Ministry鈥檚 emergency service said.
There was no immediate Israeli comment on the strikes. A separate statement said that the military had killed dozens of fighters while dismantling an 鈥渦nderground route鈥 in northern Gaza.
Hundreds of protesters rallied Saturday night in Tel Aviv, some holding photos of Palestinian children killed in Gaza, with others demanding a deal to end the war and bring all hostages home.
鈥淟et me be crystal clear. All of Israeli society, left, right, secular, religious, stands united in calling for a hostage deal. To miss this moment for a deal would be a betrayal of history, a stain that will never fade,鈥 Dalia Kushnir-Horn, sister-in-law of hostage Eitan Horn, told the crowd.
Month 3 of Israel’s blockade
Gaza is in the third month of an Israeli blockade with no food, water, fuel or other goods entering the territory of more than 2 million people. Food security experts say Gaza will be in famine if the blockade isn’t lifted.
Dozens of Palestinians in Khan Younis lined up at a charity kitchen to obtain food on Friday in a scene that quickly turned chaotic as the enclave entered its third month of Israel鈥檚 aid blockade. Charity kitchen workers were seen struggling to push people back into line as children behind a metal partition screamed and cried out for food. (AP Video: Abdel Kareem Hana, production by Wafaa Shurafa / May 17, 2025)
Earlier this week, a new that has U.S. backing to take over aid delivery said that it expects to begin operations by the end of the month, after what it described as key agreements with Israeli officials. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation identified several U.S. military veterans, former humanitarian coordinators and security contractors to lead the effort.
Many in the humanitarian community, including the U.N., said that they won鈥檛 participate, because the system doesn’t align with humanitarian principles and won鈥檛 be able to meet the needs of Palestinians in Gaza.
Tom Fletcher, the U.N. humanitarian chief, said Friday that there’s already an aid delivery plan with 160,000 pallets of supplies ready to move: 鈥淚t is ready to be activated 鈥 today 鈥 if we are simply allowed to do our jobs.鈥
The war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 others. Israel鈥檚 retaliatory offensive has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza鈥檚 Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.
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Magdy reported from Cairo. Tia Goldenberg contributed to this report from Tel Aviv, Israel.
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