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Here’s What’s Happening in Gaza Right Now
Palestinians displaced by the Israeli military offensive, shelter in tents, in Gaza City May 11, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Negotiations have continued to end the Gaza war, with no result. Hamas is still refusing to relinquish its hold on Gaza and demanding that a ceasefire include its continued governance, the total withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and the rebuilding of Gaza at the expense of the international community.
Israel is demanding the return of all the remaining hostages, the removal of Hamas from Gaza, and the complete demilitarization of the area. The Israelis offered a partial agreement that Hamas refused. In a gesture to President Trump, Hamas released a hostage who has dual American and Israeli citizenship.
On Monday, after several weeks of gradually taking more ground and intensifying aerial operations against Hamas and other terrorist personnel, Israel declared the beginning of a new escalated ground operation. Five divisions are now simultaneously attacking different localities in Gaza. The official objective is to capture most if not all the territory of Gaza.
Detonation of a tunnel: The red line emphasizes its route – the red plumes are from ventilation shafts.
In the run-up to the ground operation, the Israeli Air Force intensified its airstrikes on commanders, command centers and Hamas fighting positions. Many of these strikes required pinpoint accuracy, with small bombs or missiles sent into specific rooms Hamas had commandeered inside hospitals and schools. Others required heavier bombs to penetrate underground facilities.
Among the targets was the current Hamas chief, Mahmoud Sinwar (who replaced his brother Yahya Sinwar, killed in October 2024), and one, perhaps two, Hamas brigade commanders (those of the Rafah and Khan Yunis brigades) and several of Sinwar’s staff. It is unclear whether or not they were killed. A Saudi report claims that the bodies of Sinwar and at least 10 of his assistants were recovered, but Hamas has not officially admitted this.
Publicized details of the IDF’s new offensive show a different approach from previous operations. This time, there will be a simultaneous offensive throughout Gaza rather than a sequential one. The territory taken will be held and cleared.
Also, a different approach is planned for managing the civilian population. Previously, civilians were ordered to evacuate each area where the Israelis were operating and told to stay outside that area until the Israelis had withdrawn. This time, the plan is to set up humanitarian enclaves in areas taken by the Israeli forces, and supplies entering Gaza will be sent exclusively to those locations. The population will then be instructed to move to those enclaves via filtration points to ensure that Hamas and other terrorist personnel do not join them.
The civilian and humanitarian management of the enclaves will be in the hands of a new international organization, the US-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, set up specifically for this purpose. The UN, UNRWA, and other pro-Hamas NGOs will not be involved. To no one’s surprise, the UN establishment is criticizing this approach.
The location of an attacked Hamas post (marked in red) inside the compound of al-Ahali hospital (the white boundary).
More and more people in Gaza are allowing themselves to openly criticize Hamas, though the initial wave of public demonstrations appears to have abated after several participants were killed by Hamas. There have also been many more posts by Gazans who say they would leave Gaza permanently if they were allowed to do so.
While the number of such posts is increasing, it is still relatively small, and we don’t know how deep this sentiment is — are these people exceptions, or do they represent a much larger portion of the population? On several occasions, crowds have broken into storage sites where Hamas has been hoarding humanitarian aid. In one case, a local merchant’s warehouse was ransacked after it was published that he was hoarding food rather than selling it in anticipation of higher prices.
The Hamas Ministry of Health’s latest casualty update from May 17 claims approximately 54,000 killed and 120,000 wounded. Hamas still does not differentiate between combatants and non-combatants. According to the IDF, in January 2025 these included a verified total of more than 20,000 Hamas personnel and at least 3,000 personnel of other terrorist organizations. Since the resumption of fighting in March, many more terrorists have been killed, but no specific number has been provided. The number of wounded terrorists is not known but is probably at least similar to the number killed. And we have no way to know if any of Hamas’ numbers are accurate.
Another Israeli soldier died earlier this week in Gaza, bringing the total number of casualties since October 8 to 420.
Israeli offensive operations continue in the West Bank, though their intensity has diminished. Resistance to Israeli operations is also waning. Those killed are usually commanders who refuse to surrender or who are in the middle of conducting attacks on the Israelis.
Hamas has attempted to galvanize the population to join the fighting against the IDF, but with virtually no response so far. In fact, the frequency of terrorist attacks against Israelis has gone down considerably. Since the last update, it has reached one of its lowest levels in many years.
The Fatah-controlled security forces of the Palestinian Authority have continued their operations against their Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad rivals in areas where the Israelis are not operating. They have arrested several hundred.
Dr. Eado Hecht, a senior research fellow at the BESA Center, is a military analyst focusing mainly on the relationship between military theory, military doctrine, and military practice. He teaches courses on military theory and military history at Bar-Ilan University, Haifa University, and Reichman University and in a variety of courses in the Israel Defense Forces. A version of this article was originally published by The BESA Center.
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Tourists Stranded in Israel as Sirens Sound, Missiles Fly, Planes Grounded
FILE PHOTO: A worker at Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel sits at the arrivals terminal as all flights from and to the airport are indicated cancel, following an Israeli attack on Iran. June 13, 2025 Photo: REUTERS/Tomer Appelbaum
Woken by air raid sirens, hurrying to bomb shelters, scouring travel sites for escape routes — thousands of tourists in Israel have found their holiday plans upended by the country’s conflict with Iran.
Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran in the early hours of Friday, shutting down the national airspace and telling people to remain where they were as the arch Middle East foes traded deadly blows.
The violence has left around 40,000 tourists blocked in Israel, according to the Ministry of Tourism. Airlines are cancelling flights until further notice, leaving travelers to decide whether to wait it out or seek costly detours through neighboring countries.
Justin Joyner, from California, is on holiday in Jerusalem with his father John, who lives in Nevada, and his son. They had expected some possible disruption, with Israel locked in a months-long conflict against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
But, like most locals, they did not foresee a whole new war.
“We didn’t expect Israel to attack Iran. That is a completely different level of escalation,” Joyner said from his hotel in East Jerusalem, which, for the past two nights, has seen Iranian ballistic missiles flash overhead like a rain of meteorites.
“It’s unsettling to feel the shockwaves of intercepted missiles above you, and to take your family down to a bomb shelter. That’s just something we don’t think about in America,” he said.
Dr. Greer Glazer, who lives in Cleveland and was in Jerusalem for a nursing training program, faces a race down 10 flights of stairs in her hotel to reach the shelter when sirens sound — as they have done regularly since Friday night.
“I feel safe,” she said, “but waking from a dead sleep and running to the safe room, that’s been the hardest. My family is scared to death … They think it’s 24/7 destruction, but it’s not like that.”
THE JORDAN ROUTE
Glazer had been due to return home on June 29, but is looking to bring forward her departure. The easiest exit route is via land crossings into neighboring Jordan and then a flight out of Amman airport which has been operating in daylight hours.
Israeli media reported that the transgender US influencer Caitlyn Jenner, who only flew into Israel on Thursday for Tel Aviv’s since-canceled Gay Pride Parade, had left through Jordan.
Hours earlier, she had been photographed drinking a glass of red wine in a bomb shelter. “What an incredible way it has been to celebrate Shabbat,” she wrote on X.
Not everyone is rushing to leave.
Karen Tuhrim is visiting from London to see her daughter, who lives in Tel Aviv. “Within two days of being here, Israel attacked Iran. So now I’m stuck,” she said.
Unlike Jerusalem, Tel Aviv has taken direct hits from the Iranian missiles and Tuhrim has had to dip in and out of her hotel’s shelter. But she said she felt safe and was happy to be near her daughter.
“For me, personally, at the moment, I feel better being here than in London, watching it all on the news, knowing my daughter is here. So, for now, we’re good.”
Israel’s Ministry of Tourism has set up a round-the-clock virtual help desk in English and Hebrew for stranded travelers.
But for anyone stuck here, all the museums are closed until further notice, entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem is barred to non-residents and many shops remain shuttered.
“The streets and shops are empty,” said Jerusalem resident Anwar Abu Lafi, who saw no quick end to the gloom.
“People are yearning for a break, to find something good in this existing darkness. We are deluding ourselves into thinking that the future will be better,” he said.
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4 Killed by Missile in Arab Town of Tamra, Including a Mother and Her Two Daughters
Illustrative: A Magen David Adom ambulance. Photo: David King via Wikimedia Commons.
i24 News – In the early hours of Sunday morning, the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel was struck by an Iranian missile, tragically claiming the lives of four women from the same family, including a mother and her two daughters, aged 13 and 20.
The missile caused severe damage, nearly collapsing the three- to four-story building where they lived.
Emergency services responded quickly, evacuating 14 injured individuals and providing care for eight others suffering from shock at Rambam Hospital in Haifa.
Despite the devastation, the community and first responders showed remarkable resilience and solidarity, working tirelessly to assist those affected.
Eli Bin, director general of Magen David Adom, described the scene as one of severe destruction but praised the swift and professional response of rescue teams. Paramedic Adnan Abu Rumi, one of the first on site, emphasized the dedication of emergency personnel in managing the crisis.
Residents like Hamudi, who was injured but survived, shared heartfelt accounts of the sudden impact, underscoring the strength of families and neighbors coming together in difficult times.
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Trump Sees Peace Between Iran and Israel Soon, Eyes Putin Role
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Photo: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov
Despite evidence that the conflict between Israel and Iran is escalating, US President Donald Trump expressed optimism on Sunday that peace would come soon and cited the possibility that Russia’s Vladimir Putin could help.
In a social media post, Trump said there were many unspecified meetings about the issue happening and encouraged the two countries to make a deal. And in an interview with ABC News, he said he was open to Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine and who has resisted Trump’s attempts to broker a ceasefire with Kyiv, serving as a mediator.
Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on each other overnight into Sunday, killing scores.
“Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site. “We will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran! Many calls and meetings now taking place.”
Trump did not offer any details about the meetings or evidence of progress toward peace. His assertion contradicted comments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said on Saturday that Israel’s campaign against Iran would intensify.
A White House spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how Trump and the White House were working to de-escalate the situation in the Middle East.
Trump told ABC News that Iran wanted to make a deal and indicated something like the Israel strikes would accelerate that. “Something like this had to happen because I think even from both sides, but something like this had to happen. They want to talk, and they will be talking,” Trump said, according to ABC reporter Rachel Scott. “May have forced a deal to go quicker, actually.”
The United States has engaged in talks with Iran about its nuclear program and Trump has told reporters previously that the talks were going well. But another round of discussions scheduled for Sunday in Oman was canceled after the Israeli and Iranian strikes.
Trump said he and Putin had discussed the situation in the Middle East on Saturday in a call that focused more on that conflict than the Russian war in Ukraine.
“He is ready. He called me about it,” Trump said about Putin serving as a mediator, according to Scott. “We had a long talk about it. We talked about this more than his situation. This is something I believe is going to get resolved.”
Trump, who portrays himself as a peacemaker and has drawn criticism from his political base for not being able to prevent the Israel-Iran conflict, cited other disputes that he took responsibility for solving, including between India and Pakistan, and lamented not receiving more praise for doing so.
“I do a lot, and never get credit for anything, but that’s OK, the PEOPLE understand. MAKE THE MIDDLE EAST GREAT AGAIN!” he wrote on Truth Social.
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