DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel said Wednesday its troops retook part of a corridor that bisects Gaza, and its defense minister warned that attacks would increase “with an intensity that you have not known” until Hamas frees dozens of hostages and gives 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had retaken part of the Netzarim Corridor that divides northern Gaza from the south, and from where it had previously withdrawn as part of a ceasefire that began in January.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, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The advances by Israel on Wednesday — which included sending more troops to southern Gaza — threatened to drag the sides into all-out war again. The ceasefire had given war-weary Palestinians some respite, allowed a much-needed surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza — and led to the release of dozens of hostages who had been held for more than 15 months.
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.
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 close the Netzarim route, blocking Palestinians from traveling north or south through it.
Israel used the roughly 4-mile (6-kilometer) Netzarim 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.
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 Katz, the defense minister, said the military would soon order Palestinians to evacuate from combat zones.
“The air force attack against Hamas terrorists was just the first step. The rest will be much more difficult and you will pay the full price,” he said in a video statement addressing the population of Gaza.
Israel continued with airstrikes in Gaza on Wednesday, though at a lower intensity than Tuesday, saying it hit dozens of militants and militant sites, including the command center of a Hamas battalion. It denied Palestinian claims that it hit the U.N. guesthouse.
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 explosive ordnance was “dropped or fired” and the blast was not accidental or related to demining activity.
He did not provide the nationalities of those killed and wounded. The U.N. body carries out infrastructure and development projects around the world.
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.
After the strike Wednesday, the wounded were rushed to Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital in central city of Deir al-Balah. One man was carried inside on a blanket held up by medical workers. Another lay on a hospital bed, his knee bandaged. A blue protective vest emblazoned with “UN” rested on a nearby bed.
The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 436 people, including 183 children and 94 women, have been killed since Israel launched the strikes early Tuesday. It said another 678 people have been wounded.
The military says it only strikes militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas. Gaza’s Health Ministry records do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The war has killed nearly 49,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and displaced 90% of Gaza’s population. The Health Ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and militants but says over half of the dead have been women and children.
The war erupted when Hamas-led militants 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.
Israel and Hamas were set to negotiate an extension of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which lasted six weeks.
But those negotiations never got off the ground. Hamas has demanded that Israel stick to the terms of the initial ceasefire deal, including a full withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war. Israel, which has vowed to defeat Hamas, has put forward a new proposal that would extend the truce and free more hostages held by Hamas, without a commitment to end the war.
The breakdown of the ceasefire was met with anger in Israel, where many support the plight of the hostage families to free their loved ones.
Israel’s return to a military campaign came as Netanyahu faces mounting domestic pressure, with mass protests taking place over his handling of the hostage crisis and his plan to fire the head of Israel’s internal security agency.
Frankel reported from Jerusalem and Magdy from Cairo.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Mourners pray over the bodies of Palestinians killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip as they are brought for burial at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians inspect their damaged house following an Israeli bombardment in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The impact of a projectile is visible on the wall of the U.N. guesthouse, where United Nations workers were located when the building was struck, leaving one staff member dead and five others injured in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Displaced Palestinians, carrying their belongings traveling from Beit Hanoun to Jabaliya, a day after Israel's renewed offensive in the Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Displaced Palestinians, carrying their belongings traveling from Beit Hanoun to Jabaliya, a day after Israel's renewed offensive in the Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
An injured United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) worker is brought into al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital following what the U.N. described as a strike in which an explosive ordnance was "dropped or fired" in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians evacuate an injured man after his house was hit by an Israeli bombardment in Gaza City, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians evacuate an injured man after his house was hit by an Israeli bombardment in Gaza City, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians evacuate an injured man after his house was hit by an Israeli bombardment in Gaza City, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
An injured United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) worker is brought into al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital following what the U.N. described as a strike in which an explosive ordnance was "dropped or fired" in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - EDS NOTE GRAPHIC CONTENT.-Palestinians evacuate an injured man after his house was hit by an Israeli bombardment in Gaza City, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians evacuate an injured man after his house was hit by an Israeli bombardment in Gaza City, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians evacuate an injured man after his house was hit by an Israeli bombardment in Gaza City, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Israelis march on a highway toward Jerusalem to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
An injured United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) worker is taken into the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital after an explosion in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Wednesday March 19, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
An injured United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) worker is taken into the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital after an explosion in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Wednesday March 19, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
An injured United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) worker is taken into the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital after an explosion in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Wednesday March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The body of United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) worker is taken into the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital after an explosion in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Wednesday March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The body of United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) worker is taken into the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital after an explosion in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Wednesday March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
An injured United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) worker is taken into the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital after an explosion in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Wednesday March 19, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
An injured United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) worker is treated at the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital after an explosion in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Wednesday March 19, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
An injured United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) worker is taken into the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital after an explosion in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Wednesday March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
