2 And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.
7 And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.
12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.
25 And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.
Judges 6-7, King James Version (KJV)
Operation Gideon's Chariots
The Israeli army said 17 May 2025 it had launched the first stage of a major offensive in Gaza, dubbed "Gideon's Chariots," to seize the Palestinian territory. The plan was approved by the Security Cabinet of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on May 5, "to conquer Gaza" for Israel and hold the territory under its control. The Israeli army announced that it had begun the "first moves" of Operation Gideon's Chariots over the past 24 hours. The army said it has "launched extensive attacks and mobilized forces to seize strategic areas in the Gaza Strip, as part of the opening moves of Operation Gideon's Chariots and the expansion of the campaign in Gaza." The statement claimed that the new campaign would "achieve all the goals of the war in Gaza, including the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas." It added that Israeli troops in the Southern Command will continue "to operate to protect Israeli citizens and realize the goals of the war."
Operation Gideon's Chariots was a major Israeli military offensive in Gaza that ran from May 16 to August 4, 2025, aimed at defeating Hamas and controlling three-quarters of the Gaza Strip. Despite achieving some territorial gains, the operation ended without accomplishing its key objectives of defeating Hamas or freeing hostages, with 48 IDF soldiers killed. Operation ‘Gideon’s Chariots’ came to a close, with promised goals unfulfilled. Israel's security cabinet unanimously approved the operation on May 4, 2025, following ongoing confrontations with Hamas and the need to address Israeli hostages held since the October 7, 2023 attack.
The operation is named after the biblical warrior Gideon, who led a successful battle against the Midianites. The Midianites, along with the Amalekites and other eastern peoples, repeatedly invaded Israel, destroyed their crops, and stole their livestock, leaving Israel impoverished. The prophet Gideon led the Israelites to a miraculous victory against the Midianites in the battle described in Judges chapters 6 and 7. After the Midianites had oppressed Israel for seven years, God called Gideon and reduced his army from tens of thousands to just 300 men, who then used trumpets, pitchers, and lamps to defeat the much larger Midianite army in a night attack, ensuring Israel recognized God as the source of their deliverance. With just 300 men, Gideon attacked the Midianite camp at night, using trumpets and broken pitchers to create confusion and terror, leading the vast Midianite army to turn their swords against each other.
According to Israeli officials, the "Gideon's Chariots" offensive would see the occupation forces "conquering" Gaza and retaining the territory and moving the Palestinian civilian population toward the south of the Gaza Strip. During the last three days, Israel has killed more than 370 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The recent flurry of killings coincided with US President Donald Trump's visit to the region that began Tuesday.
By 01 July 2025 the 7th Brigade, under the command of the 98th Division, is operating in the area of Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of Operation "Gideon's Chariots," the 7th Brigade's combat team has been part of the intensified effort of the Armored Corps in the Gaza Strip. As part of the operation, the troops dismantled hundreds of terrorist infrastructure both above and below ground, including tunnel routes, booby-trapped buildings, and weapons stockpiles. Additionally, the troops eliminated terrorists in close-quarters combat and through airstrikes. The troops of the 7th Brigade will continued to operate in the Gaza Strip as long as necessary and in accordance with the objectives of the operation, in order to protect the security of the citizens of the State of Israel and especially the residents of the communities near the Gaza Strip.
The operation had two main objectives: completely destroy Hamas's military and administrative infrastructure, and rescue Israeli hostages held in Gaza since October 7, 2023. An IDF spokesperson stated the operation would include "a broad attack that includes the displacement of most of the population of the Gaza Strip". On May 18, 2025, Israel struck over 670 "Hamas targets" in preliminary airstrikes, killing over 400 people and injuring another 1,000. On the night of May 16-17, the IDF began a ground advance towards Deir al-Balah for the first time during the war.
The operation involved up to five divisions operating across different areas, including the 98th Division, 162nd Division, 143rd Division, 36th Division, and 99th Reserve Division. The IDF moved forward slowly, with commanders ordering troops to "advance as slowly as necessary to ensure troop safety and prevent further casualties" after several soldiers were killed.
As of July 4, 2025, the IDF claimed it controlled approximately 65% of the Gaza Strip, though this figure was disputed as understating Hamas's retained control. The main territorial objective was to capture 75% of the Strip.
The operation involved evacuating large portions of Gaza's approximately two million people from around 70% of the territory into designated zones in the south. Netanyahu stated in closed-door testimony that "We are destroying more and more homes. They have nowhere to return to. The only inevitable outcome will be the desire of Gazans to emigrate outside of the Gaza Strip". Israel and the United States backed a controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to distribute aid at four sites, replacing traditional UN aid delivery methods. On May 27, when thousands of starving Palestinians overwhelmed a distribution center in Tel al-Sultan, Rafah, Israeli forces fired into the crowd, killing ten and injuring at least 62 people. The GHF aid distribution method appears to have been a colossal failure, with reports of daily deadly shootings by IDF soldiers near aid sites alongside ballooning claims of widespread starvation.
The Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza was rendered nonoperational after being besieged by Israeli forces, with its director warning it could lead to the deaths of thousands of sick and wounded people. On May 26, overnight Israeli strikes killed at least 54 Palestinians, including more than 35 in an airstrike on the Fahmi al-Jarjawi School in Gaza City.
The United Nations Human Rights Office condemned the offensive as tantamount to ethnic cleansing. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the situation "beyond description, beyond atrocious, and beyond inhumane". Allied Concerns: Germany announced it would stop exporting military equipment to Israel that could be used in the Gaza Strip. Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the plan would worsen the Gaza humanitarian crisis and constitute a violation of international law. Spain, Ireland, Iceland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal, and Slovenia issued a joint letter condemning the planned offensive, stating it would deepen the humanitarian crisis and endanger Israeli hostages.
According to a report in Haaretz, the IDF's Military Advocate General warned the IDF Chief of Staff that evacuation orders for Gaza City contradict Israeli and international law because the necessary conditions for receiving the population did not exist. The Research Department in the Military Intelligence Directorate also supported this position, noting that areas for taking in residents are already filled to capacity.
At least 48 IDF soldiers were killed during Operation Gideon's Chariots, mostly by explosive devices planted by Hamas in buildings and tunnels or detonated against armored vehicles. Hamas responded with a counter-offensive called "Stones of David," consisting of ambushes and small-scale military operations against the IDF. Recent footage from Khan Younis showed at least 12 well-armed Hamas gunmen trying to set an ambush for IDF troops, indicating a high level of competency among the terror group's forces.
When the offensive ended on August 4, 2025, Defense Minister Israel Katz and other officials acknowledged that none of the operation's goals had been achieved, including defeating Hamas, retrieving live hostages, or preventing Hamas from controlling humanitarian aid. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir told political leaders since late June that Operation Gideon's Chariots had "reached the lines" defined before the offensive began and pleaded with cabinet ministers to present a strategy for how to proceed.
On August 20, 2025, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz approved "Operation Gideon's Chariots II," framed as a second part of the first offensive, which aims to take over Gaza City. The early stages were superseded by an expanded main offensive that began on September 15, 2025. Experts said the offensive will exacerbate the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, with the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) having confirmed a famine in Gaza.
The Israeli National Security Studies (INSS) warned that executing the plan would come at a heavy cost: the killing of hostages and loss of information about their whereabouts, additional IDF casualties, decreased likelihood of normalization with Saudi Arabia, deepening internal divisions in Israel, heavy economic costs, and increased legal and diplomatic risks. The operation could lead to a severe diplomatic crisis regionally and internationally, potentially eroding peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, freezing normalization with Saudi Arabia, and harming the Abraham Accords.
This operation was one of the most significant and controversial phases of the ongoing Gaza conflict, characterized by substantial military engagement, severe humanitarian consequences, widespread international condemnation, and ultimately unfulfilled military objectives.
Israeli media reported 01 August 2025 that the army completed "Gideon's Chariot", an operation it launched in May with the explicitly stated aim of seizing and occupying territory in the Gaza Strip, and was now discussing further plans of action. The first phase of the operation, which ended in early August 2025, reportedly did not fully achieve key Israeli aims, though Israel claimed to have captured 75% of the Strip. This led to debate among Israeli leaders about whether to pursue further military action.
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