Israel ramps up attacks on Gaza as Trump leaves region without a deal
Israel on Friday unleashed airstrikes that killed at least 93 people in northern Gaza and massed ground forces outside the enclave as President Donald Trump left the Middle East without announcing any breakthroughs in talks between Israel and Hamas.
The withering Israeli aerial campaign — which raised the number killed in Gaza this week to nearly 300, according to local health authorities — appeared to presage the ground operation that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to launch to gradually conquer the territory if no ceasefire and hostage exchange deal were struck by the time Trump wrapped up his Middle East tour. Trump’s four-day swing began Tuesday in Saudi Arabia and ended Friday in the United Arab Emirates, with a stop in Qatar in between.
Yet as Trump lifted off to return to Washington on Friday afternoon, Netanyahu did not immediately announce the full-scale ground assault, which some analysts interpreted as a sign that the Israeli premier may still be weighing his options.
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"In the coming days, we will go in with full force to complete the operation,” Netanyahu said, according to a video released by his office. “Maybe Hamas will say, ‘Wait — we want to release 10 more [hostages].’ Fine, bring them. We’ll take them. And then we’ll go in. But there will be no situation where we stop the war.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/16/israel-gaza-conflict-escalates/