Israel launched dozens of airstrikes across northern and southern Gaza on Friday (May 16, 2025) — attacks that local health officials say killed 108 people, mostly women and children, and which Israeli officials described as a prelude to a larger campaign aimed at pressuring Hamas to release hostages.
The strikes across the Gaza Strip followed days of attacks there that killed more than 130 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and came as U.S. President Donald Trump wrapped up a visit to the region that included stops in three Gulf states but not Israel.
The Gaza Health Ministry said 31 children and 27 women were killed in Friday’s (May 16, 2025) airstrikes, and that hundreds more were wounded.
In southern Gaza, Israel struck the outskirts of Deir al-Balah and the city of Khan Younis. It said it hit anti-tank missile posts and military structures.
In northern Gaza, the attacks sent people fleeing from the Jabaliya refugee camp and the town of Beit Lahiya. Israel said it eliminated several militants who were operating in an observation compound.
An Israeli blockade of the territory is now in its third month.
The Israeli military followed days of similar attacks that killed more than 130 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
After the strikes, dark smoke was seen rising over Jabaliya as people grabbed what they could of their belongings and fled on donkey carts, by car and foot.
“The army entered upon us, bombing, killing… We got out of the house with difficulty, killing and death, we did not take anything,” said Feisal Al-Attar, who was displaced from Beit Lahiya.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed earlier in the week to push ahead with a promised escalation of force in Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip to pursue his aim of destroying the Hamas militant group, which governs Gaza.
In comments released by Mr. Netanyahu’s office Tuesday (May 13, 2025), the Prime Minister said Israeli forces were days away from entering Gaza “with great strength to complete the mission … It means destroying Hamas.”
An Israeli official said the strikes on Friday were preparatory actions in the lead-up to a larger operation and to send a message to Hamas that it will begin soon if there isn’t an agreement to release hostages.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer told The Associated Press on Friday that Israel’s military is intensifying its operations as it has done since Hamas stopped releasing hostages. “Our objective is to get them home and get Hamas to relinquish power,” he said. He said Israel will continue pressuring Hamas while negotiating, saying that it’s getting results.
The war began when Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in an October 7, 2023, intrusion into southern Israel. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. Almost 3,000 have been killed since Israel broke a ceasefire on March 18, the Ministry said.
Hamas still holds 58 of the roughly 250 hostages it took during its October 7 attack on Israel, with 23 believed to still be alive, although Israeli authorities have expressed concern for the status of three of those.
