Middle East: The Israeli army announces that it has launched an intensification of its military offensive in Gaza.

The Israeli army announced Saturday that it had carried out "large-scale strikes" on Gaza, marking the launch of an intensified offensive on the war-torn Palestinian territory, where several days of intense bombardment have left hundreds dead.

Despite mounting international criticism of his conduct of the war, triggered by the October 7 attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Monday of an imminent "forceful" entry of the army into Gaza to "complete the operation and defeat Hamas."

Just hours after Donald Trump's Gulf tour , which had been a source of concern about hunger in the Palestinian territory, ended, the Israeli army announced that it had "launched major strikes and transferred forces to take control of areas of the Gaza Strip over the past day."

"This is part of the initial stages of Operation Gideon's Chariots and the expansion of the offensive in the Gaza Strip, with the aim of achieving all the objectives of the war, including the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas," the army said on social media early Saturday.

After a two-month truce, the Israeli army resumed its offensive in Gaza on March 18, capturing large swathes of the territory. The Netanyahu government announced in early May a plan to "conquer" Gaza, which Israel occupied from 1967 to 2005, requiring the internal displacement of "most" of its 2.4 million inhabitants.

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli strikes killed at least 100 people on Friday, after reporting more than 80 deaths on Wednesday and more than 100 deaths on Thursday.

In a hospital in Beit Lahia (north), images show residents, including children who lost their mothers, lamenting over the bodies of their loved ones, and wounded people being treated on the floor amidst screams and tears.

In Beit Lahia, Said Hamouda says the bombings "targeted homes where civilians were sleeping. Children were screaming, doors were blown open. An indescribable scene, as if it were the end of the world." "Those who don't die in the bombings will die of hunger," laments Khalil al-Tatar, another resident.

On Friday, the main Israeli association of hostage families called on Benjamin Netanyahu not to miss a "historic opportunity" for the release of their loved ones and to "join efforts with those of President Trump" to do so, citing "great concern in light of reports of the intensification of [Israeli] attacks in Gaza." But the prime minister insisted that only increased military pressure would force Hamas to release the hostages.

And, since March 2, Israeli forces have also blocked all entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, vital for the 2.4 million inhabitants, now threatened with "mass famine" according to several NGOs.

At the end of his Gulf tour, US President Donald Trump , an ally of Israel, said: "We are interested in Gaza. And we are going to make sure that it is taken care of. A lot of people are starving." Hamas, whose unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, triggered the war, then called on the United States to pressure Benjamin Netanyahu's government to allow humanitarian aid to enter.

For UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, "this latest wave of bombs forcing people to move under the threat of even more intense attacks, the methodical destruction of entire neighborhoods, and the denial of humanitarian aid underscore that there appears to be a push for permanent demographic change in Gaza that (...) amounts to ethnic cleansing." Israel claims there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza and accuses Hamas of stealing international aid.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed NGO, said it would begin distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza this month after talks with Israeli officials. However, the United Nations ruled out any participation in the initiative on Thursday, citing concerns about "impartiality, neutrality, and independence."