Israel says it carried out ‘extensive attacks’ as operation ‘Gideon’s Chariots’ launched to seize more land in the Gaza.
![Palestinians inspect the damage caused by an Israeli airstrike that struck tents at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah [Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AP25137288691104-1747471678.jpg?resize=570%2C380&quality=80)
These were the updates on Israel’s war on Gaza and attacks on the occupied West Bank for Thursday, May 15.
![Mourners pray over the shrouded bodies of victims of Israeli strikes on Jabalia, at the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip [Bashar Taleb/AFP]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AFP__20250515__46UB7CP__v2__HighRes__PalestinianIsraelConflict-1747372700.jpg?resize=570%2C380&quality=80)
As Donald Trump tours the Middle East without visiting Israel, Israeli forces intensified their bombardment of Gaza.
Trump won’t visit Israel on his Middle East tour because he knows Netanyahu is bluffing, says analyst Akiva Eldar.
![US President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the entrance of the White House in Washington, D.C. on April 7, 2025. [Leah Millis/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/image-1747251354.jpg?resize=570%2C380&quality=80)
Hamas frees Edan Alexander as Israel presses on with its Gaza assault and 71-day blockade of all aid.
![An image from video shows Edan Alexander, Hamas fighters and a Red Cross representative in southern Gaza [Al Jazeera]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/image-1747070877.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Hamas says it will release US-Israeli captive Edan Alexander and confirms direct talks with the US.
Israeli PM Netanyahu says he’ll send mediators to Qatar on Tuesday to discuss the release of Gaza captives.
![[Jehad Alshrafi/AP]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Gaza-1747080063.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Air strikes come a day after the Iran-aligned Houthis fired a missile that struck near Israel’s main airport.
![Smoke billows from the site of a US air strike in Sanaa, Yemen April 26, 2025. [File: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/2025-04-26T215959Z_1823219982_RC2T5EAZGIY6_RTRMADP_3_USA-YEMEN-STRIKES-1745996657.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Families of captives say a wider Israeli Gaza assault risks their relatives’ lives.
![Antigovernment demonstrators rally outside the Israeli army headquarters in Tel Aviv [Jack Guez/AFP]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AFP__20250503__44DN4BN__v2__HighRes__TopshotIsraelPalestinianConflictDemonstration-1746297126.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
These were the updates on Israel’s war on Gaza and attacks on the occupied West Bank for Friday, April 25.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas says keeping the captives provides Israel with justification for its attacks on Gaza.
The Israeli military hits tent camps and homes across Gaza as its attacks intensify across the enclave.
At least 29 Palestinians killed in Gaza while Civil Defence spokesman rejects Israeli probe into the killings of medics.
Israeli probe says errors made in killing of 15 Gaza medics, aid workers; denies execution despite testimonies, footage.
