Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed more than 250 people since Thursday morning, local health authorities said yesterday, one of the deadliest phases of bombardment since a truce collapsed in March, with a new ground offensive expected soon.
US President Donald Trump, who ended a Middle East tour yesterday with no apparent progress towards a new ceasefire as Israel steps up its military campaign, acknowledged Gaza’s growing hunger crisis and the need for aid deliveries.
“We have to help also out the Palestinians. You know, a lot of people are starving in Gaza, so we have to look at both sides,” he said. When asked if he backed Israel’s war plans, Trump said he expected “good things” over the next month.
Yesterday’s air and artillery strikes were focused on the northern section of the tiny, crowded enclave, where dozens of people including women and children were killed overnight, said Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Khalil Al Deqran.
Israel has intensified its bombardment and built up armoured forces along the border despite growing international pressure for it to resume ceasefire talks and end its blockade of Gaza, where warnings of famine are growing.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on May 5 that Israel was planning an expanded, intensive offensive against Hamas as his security cabinet approved plans that could involve seizing the entire Gaza Strip and controlling aid.
An Israeli defence official said at the time that the operation would not be launched before Trump concluded his visit to the Middle East, which was expected to end yesterday.
Israel’s declared goal in Gaza is the elimination of Hamas, which attacked Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and seizing about 250 hostages.
Its military campaign has devastated the enclave, pushing nearly all inhabitants from their homes and killing more than 53,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities, while aid agencies say its blockade has caused a humanitarian crisis.
Heavy strikes were reported yesterday in the northern town of Beit Lahiya and in the Jabalia refugee camp, where Palestinian emergency services said many bodies were still buried in the rubble.
Israel dropped leaflets on Beit Lahiya ordering all residents to leave, whether they lived in tents, shelters or buildings. “Leave southwards immediately,” the leaflets read.
Residents said Israeli tanks were advancing towards the southern city of Khan Younis.
In Jabalia, men picked through a sea of rubble following the night’s strikes, pulling out sheets of metal as small children clambered through the debris.
• A French and Saudi-backed conference on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will take place from June 17 to 20 at UN headquarters in New York, a French diplomatic source said. The conference will be organised by the UN General Assembly under a shared French and Saudi presidency.
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