Israel has been slowly advancing in the Gaza Strip since declaring a renewed ground offensive there this month, vowing to seize large areas of the enclave in an effort to force the surrender of Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has suggested that Israeli forces could seize “security control” over Gaza, a plan that he said would overwhelmingly displace Palestinians to the south of the territory.
The campaign — and the deadly strikes accompanying it — has prompted widespread criticism.
Britain, France, and Canada issued a rare public reprimand of Israel, demanding that it cease the widening military offensive. That laid bare growing rifts between Israel and its traditional Western allies and prompted a furious Israeli response.
Much of the criticism has focused on Israel’s decision to block aid to Gaza for more than two months, exacerbating already dire conditions in the enclave. Some aid trucks started entering the territory last week, and a new aid initiative is set to begin operating on Monday — though the United Nations and many other humanitarian organizations are boycotting the mechanism.
Mr. Netanyahu has said he would pause the offensive if Hamas agreed to a deal to free hostages still held in Gaza. Some observers believe the new military maneuvers could also be a negotiating ploy to pressure Hamas to make compromises in mediator-led talks about a truce.
How far have Israeli troops advanced?
For weeks, Mr. Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders had been threatening a major escalation in Gaza unless Hamas agreed to Israel’s terms for a truce.
Then Israel announced on May 18 that its forces had launched “extensive ground operations” throughout the enclave, saying that soldiers from five divisions were participating in the renewed offensive.
The military said it would dissect Gaza into separate zones while ordering Palestinian civilians to leave combat areas.
But details about the renewed offensive and Israeli troop movements remain scarce. And despite escalating its rhetoric, the Israeli military has yet to invade major Palestinian cities like Khan Younis and Gaza City, as it did in the early days of the war.
Satellite images taken on May 20 and analyzed by The New York Times show Israeli military activity over the week before that across several locations near Israel’s border with Gaza, including in the northern part of the enclave and near the southern city of Khan Younis.
The military has also been active farther south in Rafah, where satellite images show it has destroyed extensive parts of the city since the cease-fire collapsed in mid-March.
Effie Defrin, the Israeli military’s chief spokesman, said at a news conference that the military was being intentionally ambiguous about its movements to protect its forces.
How many people have been killed?
Before announcing the renewed ground offensive, Israel had started ratcheting up its bombardment of Gaza. Israeli strikes have killed hundreds of people since mid-May, according to figures from the Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
One recent attack hit around the European Hospital near the southern city of Khan Younis. Israeli officials said the May 13 strike was an effort to kill Muhammad Sinwar, one of Hamas’s remaining top commanders in Gaza; neither Israel nor Hamas has publicly confirmed his fate.
The Israeli military says it takes measures to avoid harming civilians, such as using “precise munitions” and giving advance warning of some strikes.
More than 53,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war, according to the Gaza health ministry. Hamas set off the conflict with a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and saw 250 taken as hostages to Gaza.
Is any aid getting into Gaza?
After barring all humanitarian aid from entering the enclave for more than two months, the Israeli government began to allow what it considers “a basic amount of food” into Gaza last week.
More than 400 trucks carrying food, fuel and medicine have since arrived in the enclave, the Israeli military agency that oversees humanitarian affairs said on Sunday. Aid officials have said that the amount is still just a small fraction of what needs to enter to ease the deprivation in Gaza.
In addition, the trucks that have crossed into Gaza have faced enormous challenges in reaching their intended recipients. At least 15 trucks affiliated with the U.N. World Food Program were looted, according to the agency.
The blockade caused widespread hunger and deprivation among Palestinians in Gaza. Aid organizations suspended their operations as food stockpiles dwindled. Doctors reported malnutrition among children, and the United Nations recently warned that people across the enclave were at risk of famine.
Israeli officials had said the blockade was an attempt to force Hamas to surrender and release the remaining hostages held in Gaza, dozens of whom are presumed dead. They also argued that Hamas was diverting humanitarian aid on a grand scale, claims that could not be independently confirmed.
On Monday, a new and untested aid mechanism was set to go into effect that would see private U.S. contractors — with security provided by Israeli troops — handing out boxes of food.
Known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the project is an Israeli plan backed by the United States. The foundation asserts it has received $100 million in funding from a Western European country, although it remains unclear who is backing it.
Most of the international community has boycotted the initiative. U.N. officials argue that it would compromise their neutrality, saying that since the new aid centers would be entirely in southern Gaza, they would essentially be facilitating Israel’s plan to displace Palestinians.
Just before the new program began, Jake Wood, the head of the foundation, resigned, saying it was “not possible” to implement the initiative while remaining neutral and independent.
How are Palestinians in Gaza responding?
The vast majority of Gaza’s roughly two million residents have already been forcibly displaced at least once — many of them several times — during the war.
Even before the Israeli military’s announcement, Palestinians had started fleeing their homes to seek shelter away from the Israeli lines. Last week, Israel ordered sweeping evacuation orders in and around the southern city of Khan Younis.
Suzanne Abu Daqqa, who lives in Abasan, outside of Khan Younis, said recently that what she feared most of all was being forced to leave her home again for a tent camp along the enclave’s sweltering coastline.
“If they tell us ‘leave’ — that will be a great catastrophe,” she said in a phone call.
The following day, Israel’s military warned residents of Abasan to flee or face “an unprecedented attack.”
Isabel Kershner and Natan Odenheimer contributed reporting.
Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem.
The post What to Know About Israel’s Expanding Offensive in Gaza appeared first on New York Times.
