On Monday, May 19, 2025, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli army would take control of the entire Gaza Strip, ravaged by months of bombing, forced exdes and famine.
This announcement comes as the civilian population Gazaouie, hungry and besieged, tries to survive in conditions qualified as catastrophic by humanitarian agencies.
“We take control of the whole Gaza Strip,” said Netanyahu, in a statement that sounds like a promise of total occupation, despite growing protests from the international community. He justifies this strengthening of the offensive by “practical” and “diplomatic” reasons, while softening, under pressure, the blockade on humanitarian aid imposed since March 2.
Targeted civilians, whole districts striped from the card
This partial lifting of the blockade occurs while the World Health Organization (WHO) alerts: “Two million people are hungry in Gaza”. WHO head, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, also denounces the disastrous health situation, aggravated by hospitals and drug shortages, stored at the borders.
On the ground, the situation is apocalyptic. The Israeli army leads what it calls an “unprecedented offensive” from Gaza. Yesterday, she announced that she had targeted “more than 160 targets” through Gaza, including supposed infrastructure of Hamas. But the consequences on civilians are dramatic, with completely destroyed residential areas.
Faced with international pressure, Netanyahu conceded the entry of a “basic food quantity” on Sunday. A decision strongly criticized by his own far-right minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, who sees it as betrayal. For his part, the alert WHO chief: “Tons of food and medication are blocked, while people are starving.”
A peace conditioned to total surrender
Netanyahu claims to be “open” to a ceasefire agreement, but on condition of a “exile of Hamas” and the total disarmament of Gaza. Hamas, for its part, said it was ready to release all the hostages of October 7 as part of a global agreement that would end the war and imply a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Since March 18, Israel has revived its military offensive, breaking a two -month Truce. In early May, Tel Aviv even presented a plan aimed at the “total conquest” of the Gaza Strip, with forced displacement of the population to the extreme south of the territory, a strategy assimilated by certain observers with progressive ethnic cleaning.
Despite criticism, including on the part of the American ally, Israel continues its offensive. And since the start of the war, the Israeli aggression has left at least 53,339 dead in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to data from the Ministry of Health of Gaza, corroborated by the UN.
In a territory where 2.4 million Palestinians are trapped, Israel continues to impose his logic of war, in defiance of international humanitarian law.
