Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip reached a new level of intensity overnight, with airstrikes killing at least 58 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. The latest wave of attacks targeted several residential areas, including Rafah and central Gaza, further worsening the already dire humanitarian crisis.
Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that dozens more were injured in the strikes, many of them critically, and that hospitals are overwhelmed. Rescue teams have been struggling to recover bodies and survivors from beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings.
The Israeli military said the strikes were aimed at Hamas operatives and infrastructure as part of what it calls “Operation Gideon’s Chariots.” The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that at least 20 of those killed were Hamas fighters, though no independent verification of this has been provided.
In Rafah, a densely populated southern city where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge, airstrikes hit multiple homes and temporary shelters. Eyewitnesses described scenes of panic, with families fleeing into the streets in the middle of the night as explosions lit up the sky.
The intensified bombardment comes amid reports that Hamas is still holding Israeli hostages captured during the October 2023 cross-border attacks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated this week that the military operation would continue until all hostages are freed and Hamas is dismantled.
“We will not stop until our mission is complete,” Netanyahu said on Saturday, May 17. “Gaza will never again pose a threat to the people of Israel.”
Meanwhile, international condemnation of Israel’s escalating actions continues to mount. The United Nations has warned that the siege of Gaza has pushed the territory into an irreversible humanitarian catastrophe. Aid organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières, have reported being unable to reach many victims due to ongoing hostilities.
Palestinian officials have called the overnight bombings a “massacre,” accusing Israel of targeting civilian infrastructure and violating international humanitarian law. “This is not warfare; this is indiscriminate revenge against our people,” said a spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority.
Egypt and Qatar, two of the main mediators in ongoing truce talks, have urged restraint from both sides. The renewed violence has overshadowed ceasefire negotiations in Doha, where discussions remain stalled due to fundamental disagreements on terms.
The United States, a close ally of Israel, has expressed “deep concern” over the civilian toll but has stopped short of condemning the strikes outright. President Donald Trump is expected to speak with both Netanyahu and Hamas’s political leadership in the coming days in what he described as an “urgent diplomatic effort.”
As Gaza’s death toll continues to rise and the conflict shows no signs of abating, international pressure is growing for a comprehensive ceasefire. However, with both sides entrenched in their positions and thousands of lives already lost, a peaceful resolution remains elusive.
The latest airstrikes have only deepened the suffering of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, more than half of whom are now displaced, living without adequate shelter, water, or medical care. For many, survival has become a daily struggle under an unrelenting assault.
Source; Reuters
