Israel launches major new offensive in Gaza as UN calls the situation for Palestinians ‘beyond inhumane’

The Israeli military says it has launched the first stages of a new major offensive in Gaza, in a development that comes on the same day that US President Donald Trump concluded his visit to the region without securing a ceasefire deal.

Israel has launched a major new offensive in Gaza it says is aimed at destroying Hamas and freeing hostages, sparking condemnation from the United Nations and aid organizations who warn civilians are bearing the brunt of the expanded assault. More than 150 people have been killed and 459 others injured over the last 24 hours, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said Saturday, adding to a mounting toll from days of intense Israeli strikes. “The situation for Palestinians in Gaza is beyond description, beyond atrocious & beyond inhumane,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a post on X Saturday. “A policy of siege & starvation makes a mockery of international law. The blockade against humanitarian aid must end immediately. This is a moment for moral clarity & action,” Guterres added. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement late on Friday that it had launched “extensive attacks and mobilized forces to seize strategic 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 goals of the war in Gaza, including the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas.” The development comes as US President Donald Trump concluded his visit to the Middle East without securing a ceasefire deal and after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this month that the population of Gaza would be displaced to the south following his security cabinet’s approval of an expanded military operation that one minister described as a plan to “conquer” the territory.