JERUSALEM — Israel said Saturday that it has launched a major operation in the Gaza Strip to pressure Hamas to release remaining hostages, following days of strikes across the Palestinian territory that killed hundreds of people.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Operation Gideon Chariots was being led with ''great force.'' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to escalate pressure with the aim of destroying the militant group that has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades.
The military operation came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump concluded his Middle East trip without a visit to Israel. There had been hope that Trump's trip could increase the chances of a ceasefire deal or the resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza, which Israel has prevented for more than two months.
Negotiations between Israel and Hamas have yet to achieve progress in Qatar's capital, Doha. Hamas, which released an Israeli-American hostage as a goodwill gesture before Trump's trip, insists on a deal that ends the war and leads to the withdrawal of Israeli forces — something Israel said that it won't agree to.
Israel's army said on social media that it was intensifying attacks and exerting ''tremendous pressure'' on Hamas across Gaza, and wouldn't stop until the hostages are returned and the militant group is dismantled.
Israel believes as many as 23 of the hostages in Gaza are still alive, although Israeli authorities have expressed concern for the status of three of them.
More than 150 people had been killed in Israeli strikes in the last 24 hours, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It said more than 3,000 have been killed since Israel broke a January ceasefire on March 18.
On Saturday afternoon, an Israeli strike killed at least four children in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north, according to al-Awda Hospital, which received the bodies. Seven others were wounded in the strike, which hit a house. A later strike in Jabaliya killed four, the hospital said.
