DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel said Wednesday its troops retook part of a corridor that bisects Gaza, and its defense minister warned that attacks would intensify until Hamas terrorists free dozens of hostages and give up control of the territory.
The military said it had retaken part of the Netzarim Corridor that divides northern Gaza from the south, and from where it had previously withdrawn as part of a ceasefire that began in January. That truce was shattered Tuesday by Israeli airstrikes that killed more than 400 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry.
Within Israel, the resumption of airstrikes has raised concerns about the fate of roughly two dozen hostages held by Hamas who are believed to still be alive.
A Hamas spokesman, Abdel-Latif al-Qanou, said the advance of ground forces in Gaza was a clear sign that Israel had backed out of the truce and was reimposing a “blockade.” There have been no reports of rocket attacks by Hamas since Tuesday’s bombardment.
Also Wednesday, the United Nations said one of its employees was killed in Gaza and five others were wounded in an apparent strike on a guesthouse. It was not immediately clear who was behind the strike, the U.N. said.
‘Limited’ ground operation
The military said that its “limited ground operation” in Gaza would create a “partial buffer between northern and southern Gaza.”
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the move would entirely block Palestinians from traveling north or south through the Netzarim Corridor.
Israel used the roughly 4-mile corridor as a military zone during the war. It ran from the Israeli border to the coast, just south of Gaza City, severing the territory’s largest metropolitan area, and the rest of the north, from the south.
Israel continued with airstrikes in Gaza on Wednesday, though at a lower intensity than Tuesday, saying it hit dozens of terrorists and terrorist sites, including the command center of a Hamas battalion. It denied Palestinian claims that it hit the U.N. guesthouse.
New evacuations to be ordered
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who had fled northern Gaza for the south were prevented from returning throughout the war, until Israel withdrew from Netzarim in January. Many of them have since returned.
But Israel Katz, the Israeli defense minister, said the military would soon order Palestinians to evacuate from combat zones.
Katz said Tuesday’s aerial bombardment “was just the first step” in Israel’s plan to ratchet up the pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages and give up control of Gaza. Until it does, Israel will attack “with an intensity that you have not known.”
U.N. worker killed in strike
Jorge Moreira da Silva, head of the U.N. Office for Project Services, declined to say who carried out the strike in the central city of Deir al-Balah. He said the blast was not accidental or related to demining activity.
He did not provide the nationalities of those killed and wounded.
Moreira da Silva said strikes had hit near the compound on Monday and struck it directly on Tuesday and again on Wednesday. He said the agency had contacted the Israeli military after the first strike. “Israel knew this was a U.N. premise, that people were living, staying and working there,” he said.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, a military spokesperson, said the explosion was not caused by Israeli fire. “There were no forces around that building, no aerial attacks on that area,” he said.
The war erupted when Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Most have been released in ceasefires or other deals; 59 hostages remain, and more than half are believed to be dead.
Nearly 49,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and terrorists.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry said at least 436 people have been killed since Israel launched the strikes early Tuesday. It said another 678 people have been wounded.
The military says it only strikes terrorists and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas.
