Israel launches new offensive against battered Gaza to "free hostages and defeat Hamas"

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Friday that they have expanded their offensive on the Gaza Strip with a series of operations under Operation Gideon's Chariots, which seek to defeat the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and free hostages captured during the October 7, 2023, offensive.

"Over the past 24 hours, the IDF has launched extensive attacks and mobilized forces to seize controlled areas in the Gaza Strip , as part of the opening moves of Operation 'Gideon's Chariots' and the expansion of the campaign in Gaza, to achieve all the objectives of the war in Gaza, including the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas," the Israeli military announced in a post on its account on the social network X.

The announcement was accompanied by a video showing airstrikes against various targets , presumably as part of this new operation. "IDF forces in the Southern Command will continue to operate to protect Israeli citizens and achieve the war's objectives ," the IDF added at the end of its message.

This statement comes after the army itself claimed to have attacked "more than 150 terrorist targets" during the last day in the Gaza Strip, amid the intensification of the offensive against the enclave , after the Gazan authorities , controlled by Hamas , reported nearly 200 deaths between Thursday and Friday.

Palestinian media reports that the first major target of Israeli forces appears to be the town of Deir al-Bala , in the center of the enclave , which they have approached amid intense artillery and air strikes .

Deir al-Bala is one of the few areas in Gaza where ground troops have not yet operated during the war. Previously, forces had operated on the outskirts, but not within the city. Furthermore, the town is just south of the Al-Mawasi displacement camp , where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have found refuge from Israeli bombardment.

The Gazan authorities, it should be recalled, have raised this Friday to more than 53,100 the dead and more than 120,000 the wounded since the start of the Israeli military offensive against the enclave , unleashed after the attacks carried out on October 7, 2023 by Hamas and other Palestinian groups , which left some 1,200 dead and nearly 250 kidnapped, according to the official balance provided by the Israeli authorities .