Israel expands attacks in Gaza and Yemen as Trump wraps up trip to
region
[May 17, 2025]
By WAFAA SHURAFA and BASSEM MROUE
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel launched dozens of airstrikes
across Gaza on Friday that local health officials said killed 108
people, mostly women and children, and which Israeli officials described
as a prelude to a stepped-up campaign to pressure Hamas to release
hostages.
Israel also struck two ports in Yemen that it said were used by the
Houthi militant group to transfer weapons. Local health officials said
at least one person was killed and nine injured.
The strikes across the Gaza Strip followed days of attacks that killed
more than 130 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does
not distinguish between civilians and combatants, and came as U.S.
President Donald Trump wrapped up a visit to the region that included
stops in three Gulf states but not Israel.
There had been widespread 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. The Trump
administration is also trying to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran,
which backs several anti-Israel militant groups, including Hamas in Gaza
and the Houthis in Yemen.
Speaking to reporters in Abu Dhabi on the final day of his trip, Trump
said he was looking to resolve a range of global crises, including Gaza.
“We’re looking at Gaza,” he said. “And we’ve got to get that taken care
of. A lot of people are starving. A lot of people are — there’s a lot of
bad things going on.”
The Gaza Health Ministry said 31 children and 27 women were killed and
hundreds more wounded in Friday’s airstrikes.
In southern Gaza, Israel struck the outskirts of Deir al-Balah and the
city of Khan Younis. It said it hit anti-tank missile posts and military
structures.
Three children and their grandfather were killed as they fled
bombardment in Khan Younis, said the head of pediatrics at Nasser
Hospital, Dr. Ahmed al-Farra.
In northern Gaza, the attacks sent people fleeing from the Jabaliya
refugee camp and the town of Beit Lahiya. Israel said it eliminated
several militants who were operating in an observation compound.
Dark smoke was seen rising over Jabaliya as people fled on donkey carts,
by car and foot.
“We got out of the house with difficulty, killing and death, we did not
take anything,” said Feisal Al-Attar, who was displaced from Beit Lahiya.
After the strikes on Yemen, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
said, “There will be more to come.” The Israeli military, which attacked
Houthi targets earlier this month, said it had intercepted several
missiles fired from Yemen toward Israeli airspace during Trump’s visit
to the region.
Netanyahu vows to step up war
An Israeli official said the latest strikes in Gaza were part of the
lead-up to a larger operation that it warned would begin soon if Hamas
doesn't release the 58 hostages still in Gaza since the group's October
2023 attack that launched the war. The official was not authorized to
brief media and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Netanyahu vowed earlier in the week to escalate pressure on Hamas with
the aim of destroying the militant group that has ruled Gaza for nearly
two decades. In comments released by his office Tuesday, the prime
minister said Israeli forces were days away from entering Gaza “with
great strength to complete the mission.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed Friday that strikes in
Gaza earlier in the week targeted the presumed leader of Hamas' military
wing in Gaza, Mohammed Sinwar, although there has been no word on his
fate. He is the brother of the slain former leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar
— a mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
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Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in
Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel
Kareem Hana)
‘Heavy hearts’
In Israel, a group that supports the families of hostages said they
awoke Friday with “heavy hearts” to reports of increased attacks and
called on Netanyahu to “join hands” with Trump’s efforts to free
hostages. On Monday, Israeli-American Edan Alexander was released after
backdoor U.S.-Hamas diplomacy.
In the Oct. 7 attack, Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and
abducted 251 others. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than
53,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to
Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Almost 3,000 have been killed since Israel broke a ceasefire on March
18, the ministry said.
Of the hostages that remain in Gaza, Israel believes as many as 23 are
still alive, although Israeli authorities have expressed concern for the
status of three of those.
Gaza blockade enters third month
Dozens of Palestinians in Khan Younis lined up at a charity kitchen
Friday in a scene that quickly turned chaotic as the enclave entered its
third month of Israel’s aid blockade.
Several children behind a metal partition screamed and cried out for
food. At one point, charity kitchen workers struggled to push people
back into line.
Some workers were attacked as the crowd surged forward, pressing against
the partition and lunging toward the large pots of rice to grab whatever
they could.
Israel's blockade is preventing food, fuel medicine and all other
supplies from entering, worsening a humanitarian crisis. Israel says the
blockade aims to pressure Hamas to release the hostages it still holds.
“Our only hope was that Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East would
result in solutions and somehow open crossings to bring in humanitarian
assistance as soon as possible into the Gaza Strip,” said Saqer Jamal, a
displaced man from Rafah who was at the kitchen.
The United Nations announced Friday that 18 kitchens previously closed
due to food shortages in Gaza reopened after community members shared
remaining food stocks.
Earlier this week, a new humanitarian organization that has U.S. backing
to take over aid delivery said it expects to begin operations before the
end of the month — after what it describes as key agreements from
Israeli officials.
A statement from the group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, identified
several U.S. military veterans, former humanitarian coordinators and
security contractors that it said would lead the delivery effort.
Many in the humanitarian community, including the U.N., said they won't
participate because the system does not align with humanitarian
principles and won't be able to meet the needs of Palestinians in Gaza.
——
Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Tia Goldenberg and
Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
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