Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on May 5, 2025, that Israel was preparing an intensified military campaign in the Gaza Strip after the security cabinet approved plans to expand operations. Israeli officials said the strategy would involve taking and holding additional territory and moving civilians away from combat zones, while maintaining pressure on Hamas over the hostages still held in Gaza.
The announcement marked another major escalation after Israel resumed large-scale military operations in March, ending the relative calm created by the January ceasefire. At the time of Netanyahu's announcement, negotiations over a renewed ceasefire and hostage-release agreement had failed to produce a breakthrough.
Israel Approves an Expanded Gaza Operation
Netanyahu described the planned campaign as an "intensive" escalation. Israeli officials said forces would no longer conduct only temporary raids before withdrawing but would seek to maintain control of territory they captured.
The plan followed a large reserve mobilization. Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said the objective was to increase pressure on Hamas, dismantle its military infrastructure and prevent the group from reestablishing itself in areas entered by Israeli forces.
Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin also said the expanded campaign would involve moving much of Gaza's population away from areas where Israeli forces planned to operate. Israeli authorities characterized those movements as measures intended to protect civilians.
The scope of the planned operation was not entirely clear when it was announced. Officials indicated that Israeli forces would seek additional territorial control, but public statements did not establish that Israel had formally decided at that point to permanently occupy the entire Gaza Strip.
Hostages and the Military Strategy
Netanyahu argued that increased military pressure could help secure the release of the remaining hostages. "We will not give up on anyone," he said while defending the decision to intensify operations.
That argument was disputed inside Israel. Opposition politicians and organizations representing hostage families warned that expanded combat could instead put captives in greater danger.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid questioned both the military objective and the effect of calling up additional reservists. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum likewise warned that expanding military operations could endanger people still being held in Gaza and urged the government to prioritize an agreement for their release.
The disagreement reflected a central strategic question throughout the war: whether sustained military pressure would force Hamas to release hostages or make negotiations and the captives' survival more difficult.
Ceasefire Efforts Had Broken Down
A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on January 19, 2025. During its first phase, hostages and Palestinian prisoners and detainees were released, displaced Palestinians returned to parts of Gaza, and humanitarian organizations substantially increased aid deliveries.
The arrangement did not progress into a lasting ceasefire. Israel halted the entry of goods and humanitarian supplies into Gaza on March 2, and large-scale Israeli strikes resumed on March 18.
Israel said Hamas had rejected proposals that could have extended the ceasefire and argued that renewed military pressure was necessary to secure the hostages' release and dismantle Hamas. Hamas called for an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli forces as part of an agreement.
The United States, Egypt and Qatar continued diplomatic efforts aimed at securing another hostage-release and ceasefire arrangement.
Humanitarian Conditions Deteriorate
The military escalation unfolded alongside a rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis. The United Nations humanitarian country team said on May 4 that Israeli authorities had blocked supplies from entering Gaza for nine weeks. It reported that bakeries and community kitchens had closed, warehouses were being depleted and food shortages were worsening.
Israel said restrictions on aid were intended to prevent Hamas from benefiting from supplies and to increase pressure on the group. Israeli officials also backed a new aid-distribution system intended to bypass Hamas.
UN agencies and humanitarian organizations objected to the proposed distribution mechanism. They argued that aid should be delivered according to humanitarian principles and warned that the proposed system could leave vulnerable people without adequate access to assistance.
The humanitarian situation was therefore inseparable from the military strategy: expanded ground operations threatened further displacement at the same time that food, medicine, fuel and other essential supplies were severely restricted.
The October 7 Attack and the War
The war began after Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people according to Israeli authorities and taking roughly 250 people hostage.
Israel responded with a military campaign in Gaza aimed at dismantling Hamas and recovering the hostages. By May 2025, the Gaza Health Ministry was reporting more than 50,000 Palestinian deaths since the beginning of the war. The ministry's cumulative toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, while international organizations have relied on its figures while noting the limitations of casualty data during the conflict.
Most of Gaza's population had also been displaced during the war, many people multiple times, while extensive destruction affected homes, hospitals and other civilian infrastructure.
The Planned Escalation Becomes Operation Gideon's Chariots
The early-May announcement was not merely rhetorical. Later that month, Israel launched the expanded ground campaign under the name Operation Gideon's Chariots.
On May 18, Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said ground operations had begun. The military stated that its objectives remained the return of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas. Israeli forces subsequently expanded operations in northern and southern Gaza and sought greater operational control over additional areas.
The offensive also intensified international concern over civilian casualties, displacement and access to food. Israel began allowing limited humanitarian supplies into Gaza later in May after an 11-week blockade, but the UN humanitarian chief said the initial deliveries were far below the level required to meet the population's needs.
Later Developments
The May 2025 escalation did not immediately produce an end to the war. Fighting and negotiations continued for months, while the humanitarian situation and the fate of the hostages remained central issues.
A major change came in October 2025, when Israel and Hamas agreed to implementation steps for a U.S.-backed ceasefire and hostage-release arrangement mediated with involvement from Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye. The United Nations welcomed the agreement and called for its full implementation, sustained humanitarian access and a permanent end to the fighting.
On October 13, Hamas released the remaining 20 living Israeli hostages under the agreement, while Israel released Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Israeli forces also withdrew from parts of Gaza in accordance with the initial implementation arrangements.
The later ceasefire changed the immediate military circumstances described when Netanyahu announced the May escalation, but it did not resolve all of the underlying disputes. Questions over Israeli troop withdrawals, Hamas's disarmament, Gaza's future governance, reconstruction and the long-term political settlement remained unresolved.
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