Chicago – May 19, 2025
Israel launched an extensive ground operation in Gaza Sunday in addition to an intense air campaign that health officials in the territory say killed over 100 people overnight and shuttered the last functioning hospital in the enclave’s north.
The Israeli military’s ground operation in northern and southern Gaza comes as international mediators push for progress in ceasefire talks.
Hamas and Israel began indirect talks in the Qatari capital Doha Saturday, with senior Hamas official Taher Al-Nunu confirming that “negotiations without preconditions” had started, according to Hamas-run al Aqsa TV.
While there is some optimism around the talks, a breakthrough is looking uncertain. Israel on Sunday indicated its openness to ending the war in Gaza if Hamas surrenders, a proposition the militant group is unlikely to accept. Hamas has said it will release all of the Israeli hostages if there are guarantees Israel will end the war.
“If Hamas wants to talk about ending the war through Hamas’s surrender, we will be ready,” an Israeli source said.
Earlier on Sunday, a senior Hamas leader told CNN that the group had agreed to release between seven and nine Israeli hostages in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 300 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Hours later another senior Hamas leader, Sami Abu Zuhri, denied and contradicted that proposal, posting a statement on Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV Telegram: “There is no truth to the rumors regarding the movement’s agreement to release nine Israeli prisoners in exchange for a two-month ceasefire.”
He went on to say, “We are ready to release the prisoners all at once, provided the occupation commits to a cessation of hostilities under international guarantees, and we will not hand over the occupation’s prisoners as long as it insists on continuing its aggression against Gaza indefinitely.”
The Israeli military has claimed that their new military campaign – called “Gideon’s Chariots,” a reference to a biblical warrior, and announced late on Friday – has brought Hamas back to the negotiating table. And due to the “operational need,” Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office said Sunday that the country will allow a “basic amount of food” to enter the Gaza Strip, to prevent a hunger crisis in the enclave, which Israel says would jeopardize the operation.
The campaign was launched “to achieve all the goals of the war in Gaza, including the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
