What to Know About Israel’s Renewed Ground Offensive in Gaza

Israel declared this week that it was expanding its ground offensive the Gaza Strip, vowing to seize swaths of the enclave in an effort to force the surrender of Hamas after more than 19 months of war.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Monday that Israeli troops could effectively take control of all of Gaza as part of the offensive. It was unclear what exactly that would mean or whether his government would follow through on the threat, which came amid a new and intense round of cease-fire negotiations as the Trump administration presses both sides to agree to a truce.

Some observers have suggested the announcements of new military maneuvers could be a negotiating ploy to pressure Hamas to make compromises.

The past few days have been particularly deadly for Palestinians in Gaza, which has been devastated by the war and a recent blockade on aid that has left many facing hunger.

How far have Israeli troops advanced?

For weeks, Mr. Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have been threatening a massive escalation in Gaza unless Hamas agreed to Israel’s terms for a truce.

Then on Sunday, Israel announced 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 the Gaza Strip into separate zones while ordering Palestinian civilians to flee combat areas.

But details about the renewed offensive and Israeli troop movements were scarce. And despite escalating its rhetoric, the Israeli military on Monday had yet to begin the long-awaited major advance, which would involve thousands of ground troops.

Satellite images taken on May 18 and analyzed by The New York Times show Israeli military activity since a week ago 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 further south in Rafah, where satellite images show it has destroyed extensive parts of the city since the cease-fire collapsed.

Effie Defrin, the Israeli military’s chief spokesman, said at a news conference on Sunday 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 more than 400 people since last Thursday, according to figures from the Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The Israeli military said on Sunday that it had struck more than 670 targets across the enclave over the past week. People in Gaza have described near-constant explosions and the howls of fighter jets overhead.

One recent attack hit around the European Hospital near the southern city of Khan Younis. Israeli officials said the 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 warning ahead 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 began 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 announced on Sunday night that it would allow “a basic amount of food” into Gaza.

On Monday, Israel allowed nine aid trucks to enter, according to the office of the Israeli defense minister.

The blockade had 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 said 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 already presumed dead.

For weeks, Israel publicly insisted that Gaza was well-provisioned. But Israeli officials privately began to assess that unless some aid was allowed into the enclave, Palestinians there could face starvation.

In recent days, the Trump administration — Israel’s main foreign backer — joined a long list of foreign governments to warn of starvation in Gaza.

Mr. Netanyahu said that the resumption of aid was a response to such criticism and an attempt to sustain foreign support for Israel’s campaign.

“We must not reach a point of starvation — both as a matter of fact but also as a diplomatic issue,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a video posted online. Without the resumption of aid, Israel “will simply not be supported, and we will not be able to achieve victory,” he added.

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 on Sunday, Palestinians had started fleeing their homes to seek shelter away from the Israeli lines.

Suzanne Abu Daqqa, who lives in Abasan, outside of Khan Younis, said Sunday 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 contributed reporting.