May 2025 Gaza offensive
| May 2025 Gaza offensive | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip during the Gaza war | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Israel |
Hamas | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
Per Israel: 48 Israeli soldiers killed |
400+ killed 1,000+ injured Per Israel: 2,100 militants killed 10,000 targets struck | ||||||||
On 4 May 2025, Israel's security cabinet approved a plan to expand its military offensive in the Gaza Strip. Codenamed Operation Gideon's Chariots (Hebrew: מבצע מרכבות גדעון), the offensive aimed to defeat Hamas, destroy its military and governing capabilities, and take control over three quarters of the Gaza Strip. The operation involved combined military force from land, air, and sea. On 16 May, Israel announced the launch of the operation. As of 4 July, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it controlled approximately 65% of the Gaza Strip, most of which was captured during this offensive though this figure was disputed as being inaccurate and understating the control Hamas retains in Gaza. The United Nations Human Rights Office condemned the offensive as tantamount to ethnic cleansing.
Hamas responded with a counter-offensive that it calls Stones of David, consisting of a series of ambushes and small-scale military operations against the IDF.
On 4 August, Israeli sources reported the offensive had ended, without having achieved key Israeli aims, while the main territorial objective of capturing 75% of the Strip had been achieved. On 20 August, Israel launched "Operation Gideon's Chariots II", framed as a second part to the offensive, which aimed to take over Gaza City.