The Israeli military announced today that it is expanding its ground operation to the Rafah area in the far south of the Gaza Strip.
"In the last few hours, forces have carried out ground operations in the Shabura area of Rafah," the army said in a statement.
The Israeli military added that its operations were continuing "in the northern and central parts of the Palestinian territory."
(Beta)
US President Donald Trump "fully supports Israel and the Israeli military and the actions taken in recent days" in the Gaza Strip, White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said today.
The US president "made it clear to the Palestinian movement Hamas that they would live in hell if they did not release all the hostages, and Hamas unfortunately chose to play a media game with human lives," she said.
A White House spokeswoman added that Hamas "is entirely to blame for this situation because of its violent attack on Israel on October 7" 2023.
The Palestinian Islamist movement said it fired rockets at Tel Aviv today, the first response since the resumption of Israeli air and ground operations on Monday evening.
According to the Gaza Civil Defense, at least 504 people, including more than 190 minors, have been killed since the resumption of Israeli attacks.
Hostilities ceased on January 19 under an agreement brokered by Qatar, the US and Egypt.
The first phase of the ceasefire, which expired on March 1, allowed the return to Israel of 33 hostages, including eight dead, and the release of about 1.800 Palestinian prisoners.
Since then, negotiations have been at a standstill.
Hamas wants a second phase of the agreement, which would provide for a permanent ceasefire, an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the reopening of humanitarian crossings and the release of the remaining hostages.
Israel, however, wants the first phase to be extended until mid-April and, in order to move on to the second, is demanding the "demilitarization" of the Gaza Strip and the departure of Hamas, which has ruled the territory since 2007.
The attack on October 7, 2023, killed 1.218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures and including hostages who died or were killed in captivity.
In response, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza that has killed at least 49.617 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas Health Ministry, which the UN considers reliable.
(Beta)
The Israeli military said it had killed the head of internal security for the Palestinian Hamas movement in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip.
"In recent days, the Israeli army and the Shin Bet (internal security) carried out a raid and eliminated the terrorist Rashid Jajuh, head of Hamas's general security service," army spokesman Avichai Ardai wrote on the X platform, adding that Jajuh took over from Sami Odeh, who was killed in July 2024.
According to the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Management, Hamas's internal security service is responsible for combating espionage in favor of Israel, and for gathering intelligence for the political leadership.
In a second, separate strike, Ismail Abdelal, who is considered "responsible for most of the arms smuggling operations of Islamic Jihad," a group allied with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, was killed, the Israeli military said.
(Beta)
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 85 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip today and last night, health officials said.
Several homes were hit in the bombing during the night, and women and children were among the dead.
There are no reports that the Palestinian Hamas movement in Gaza has responded militarily to these attacks.
A few hours later, the Israeli army renewed the blockade on northern Gaza, which it had maintained for most of the war.
Residents have been warned not to use the main highway to enter or exit northern Gaza, and the Israeli military said that only passage to the south would be allowed via the coastal road.
A ground operation was also announced in northern Gaza near the town of Beit Lahi, where attacks have killed dozens of people in the past 24 hours.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returned to the ruins of their homes in northern Gaza after a ceasefire in January.
Israel continued to bomb Gaza yesterday, violating a ceasefire that allowed the release of more than twenty hostages.
Israel blamed Hamas for the continuation of the war because it rejected a new ceasefire proposal.
The administration of US President Donald Trump, which has taken credit for helping broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, has expressed full support for Israel.
Israel, which has cut off food, fuel and humanitarian aid to Gaza for two million Palestinians, has vowed to step up attacks until Hamas releases the 59 hostages it still holds - 35 of whom are believed to be dead - and relinquishes control of the territory.
Hamas said it would release the remaining hostages only in exchange for a permanent ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as required by the ceasefire agreement they reached in January.
Hamas, which does not accept the existence of Israel, says it is willing to hand over power to a Western-backed Palestinian Authority or a committee of politically independent figures, but will not lay down its arms until Israel ends its decades-long occupation of territories that Palestinians want for their future state.
(BETA)
Israeli strikes killed at least 58 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip overnight and on Thursday, according to three hospitals.
Israel resumed heavy attacks across Gaza on Tuesday, breaking a ceasefire that had halted the war and allowed the release of more than 20 hostages. Israel blamed Hamas, which the United States and the European Union consider a terrorist organization, for the renewed fighting after the militant group rejected a new proposal that differed from their signed agreement.
More than 400 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday alone, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
One of the attacks early Thursday hit the home of the Abu Daka family in Abasan al-Kabira, a village not far from Khan Yunis near the border with Israel. It was inside an area the Israeli military ordered evacuated earlier this week, encompassing much of eastern Gaza.
At least 16 people, mostly women and children, were killed in the attack, according to the nearby European Hospital, which received the dead.
"Another tough night," Hani Awad, who was helping rescuers search for survivors in the rubble, told the AP. "The house collapsed on people's heads."
Israel, which has also cut off food, fuel and humanitarian aid to some two million Palestinians in Gaza, has vowed to intensify its operations until Hamas releases the 59 hostages it is holding — 35 of whom are believed to be dead — and hands over control of the territory. The Trump administration, which has taken credit for brokering the ceasefire, says it fully supports Israel.
Hamas said it would release the remaining hostages only in exchange for a permanent ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as stipulated in a ceasefire agreement they reached in January after more than a year of mediation by the United States, Egypt and Qatar.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the latest strikes. The military says it is targeting only militants and blames Hamas for the civilian casualties because it is deeply entrenched in residential areas.
The European Hospital in the southern town of Rafah said it had received 36 bodies after overnight attacks, mostly women and children. Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis received seven bodies and transferred four to the European Hospital, which included them in its own numbers. In northern Gaza, the Indonesian Hospital said it had received 19 bodies.
The war began when Hamas-led militants invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1.200 people and taking 251 hostages. Most of the hostages were released in ceasefire agreements or other settlements.
The Israeli retaliation, one of the deadliest and most destructive in recent history, has killed nearly 49.000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel says it has killed about 20.000 militants, without providing evidence.
The war displaced about 90 percent of Gaza's population at its peak and caused massive destruction across the territory. Hundreds of thousands of people returned to their homes during the ceasefire, but many found only rubble.
(Radio Free Europe)
At least 10 people were killed last night in the Gaza Strip, in the continuation of Israeli bombardment of the Palestinian territory, the Civil Defense announced.
"At least 10 civilians were killed and dozens of others injured in Israeli airstrikes that targeted six houses east of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, early Thursday morning," Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal told AFP.
Israel announced yesterday that it would intensify military operations as a "final warning" to residents of the Palestinian territories if Hamas does not release Israeli hostages.
(BETA)
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