Mass casualties reported as Israel begins its latest military push to occupy parts of Gaza and escalate the war.
At least 120 Palestinians have been killed and over 200 others wounded in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since dawn on Friday, as the Israeli military began expanding its operations early Saturday.
Al-Jazeera reported that three people were killed and several injured in an Israeli airstrike on a home in Tel al-Zaatar, northern Gaza. The victims were taken to the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia.
Elsewhere in the northern part of the enclave, multiple Palestinians were injured in a strike near the Andalus Tower in Gaza City. The wounded were rushed to Al-Shifa Medical Complex, where doctors described one case as critical.
In the south, an Israeli drone strike on the Ma’an area east of Khan Yunis killed two and wounded four others. Another strike on Bani Suhaila, also east of Khan Yunis, left six people dead and others injured. Casualties were transferred to Nasser Hospital.
🚨 Israeli strike hits Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital yard in Deir Al-Balah — at least one killed, several injured. Tents of displaced families were damaged in the attack. pic.twitter.com/v3uyUBwC7e
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) May 17, 2025
Palestinian sources also confirmed that three people were wounded in an attack on a tent near the Taiba Towers in a so-called ‘humanitarian’ zone west of Khan Yunis. Israeli warplanes also struck Al-Qarara town, northeast of the city.
Additional casualties were reported after an Israeli airstrike targeted tents housing displaced people near Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.
‘Gideon’s Chariots’ Operation Begins
The surge in Palestinian casualties comes as the Israeli army officially expands its military campaign in Gaza under what it calls Operation Gideon’s Chariots.
According to the Israeli military, the campaign involves widespread airstrikes and ground operations aimed at “achieving all war objectives,” including the release of detainees and the dismantling of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
Israeli media previously reported that this expanded phase would follow the conclusion of US President Donald Trump’s recent tour of the Gulf region—should no new agreement on Gaza materialize. Trump departed the UAE at the end of the tour without announcing any diplomatic breakthrough.
🚨 Two Palestinians were killed and others wounded in an Israeli airstrike targeting the Abu Akar family home west of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza. pic.twitter.com/3MRp4ilImv
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) May 17, 2025
The Israeli Security Cabinet approved the plan for Operation Gideon’s Chariots in early May, triggering the mobilization of tens of thousands of reservists. The operation’s name, evoking the 1948 ‘Operation Gideon’ used to seize Beit Shean and displace Palestinians, signals a deliberate historical and ideological continuity.
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According to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority (KAN), the current operation aims to occupy all of Gaza and forcibly evacuate the population from active combat zones—particularly northern Gaza—into designated areas in the south.
During the three-day visit by Trump, the Israeli army killed over 378 Palestinians—nearly four times the number of those killed in the four days prior, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s military campaign in Gaza—backed by the United States—has left approximately 173,000 Palestinians either dead or injured. Most of the victims are women and children. Over 11,000 remain missing beneath the rubble.
(PC, AJA)
israel has as much chance in dismantling HAMAS as I do in leaping in the air and landing on the moon! … As they used to say, here in the so-called West ( actually capitalist racist imperialist war-mongering states ) israel is just ” criuisin-for a bruisin ” —– again.