Israeli military aims to take over 75% of Gaza in 2 months

Ian Fisher, Bloomberg News on May 26, 2025

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Israel aims to take control of 75% of the Gaza Strip and move its 2 million inhabitants into three designated areas as part of a new military offensive in the coastal strip.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the 10-day-old operation, codenamed Gideon’s Chariots, is intended to defeat Hamas and recover hostages held by the Iran-backed group. All of Gaza will eventually be taken over by Israeli forces, Netanyahu has said, without detailing any plans for the day after.

The entire population of the Gaza Strip, just 226 kilometers (141 square miles) in total, would be directed to three areas comprising 25% of the territory — the southern Mawasi area in the south, central Gaza and Gaza City in the north — according to reports on Israeli media.

The Israeli military did not immediately confirm these reports. It said troops and tanks currently control around 40% of Gaza.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he wants the war in Gaza to end as quickly as possible, even as Israel continues to expand its operations.

“Israel, we’ve been talking to them, and we want to see if we can stop that whole situation as quickly as possible,” Trump told reporter on Sunday.

Alongside military plans, Israel is implementing a U.S.-backed aid-distribution system to provide food initially to around half of Palestinian civilians in the enclave. The country is facing international criticism for an aid blockade in place since early March.

Israel had blocked all aid after a truce with Hamas expired, leading to warnings of starvation. Efforts by Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. to mediate a new ceasefire and hostage release have proved fruitless.

Humanitarian aid has begun to trickle back into Gaza, and the new aid program is set to begin as soon as Monday. However, it’s being marred by the resignation on Sunday of the head of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a Swiss-based nonprofit group supported by the U.S. and Israel to distribute aid in Gaza.

“It is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon,” the GHF’s Executive Director Jake Wood said in a statement.

The foundation said in a later statement that its aid trucks “are loaded and ready to go” and that it still plans to begin aid delivery in Gaza starting Monday, with plans to reach “over one million Palestinians by the end of the week.”

Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the European Union, triggered the conflict when it attacked southern Israel. It killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. Israel’s offensive has killed more than 53,000 people in Gaza, according to the Palestinian territory’s Hamas-run health ministry. Israel has lost more than 400 troops in Gaza combat.