Israeli army says forces retake part of key land corridor to expand a ‘security zone and create a partial buffer’.
Israeli troops have resumed ground operations in the besieged Gaza Strip, reclaiming control of a key land corridor while continuing a wide-ranging bombardment of the besieged enclave as a truce with Hamas collapsed.
The Israeli army said its forces retook control of the centre of the Netzarim Corridor on Wednesday to expand a “security zone and create a partial buffer between the north and south of the Strip”.
Last month, Israeli troops withdrew from the corridor, which bisects Gaza, allowing civilians in central and southern Gaza to return to what remained of their homes in the north after more than a year of war.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said the reoccupation of Netzarim will prevent the free movement of Palestinians inside the enclave.
“The Israeli military presence in the area is equivalent to a ground invasion. That’s made clear by the [Israeli military] statement. It’s going to be a part of a starting point, or a launching point, for the occupying forces to implement military operations in the area,” Mahmoud said.
The ground manoeuvre comes after Israel resumed bombing Gaza, killing more than 400 people on Tuesday after accusing Hamas of refusing a new version of the ceasefire under which many of the 59 remaining captives being held in Gaza – the majority of whom are believed to be dead – would be released without Israel having to agree to end the war.
To put pressure on Hamas to accept the new deal, Israel earlier this month blocked all aid deliveries into the Strip and cut electricity to the enclave.
Hamas insisted Israel should stick to the original ceasefire, signed in January, according to which the two sides were to negotiate the handover of the remaining captives, a permanent cessation of hostilities and the pullout of Israeli troops from Gaza.
“Why do we have to present proposals while there exists a signed agreement with international parties acting as guarantors?” Taher al-Nono, media adviser for the head of the Hamas political bureau, told Al Jazeera.
“There is also a [United Nations] Security Council resolution. We have positively responded to all the efforts made towards us. It was [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu that has backed down on the agreement. It was Netanyahu who turned a blind eye to it. Therefore, it is Netanyahu, not Hamas or the resistance, that should be pressured to comply.”
On Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened to escalate the offensive if all the captives held in Gaza were not freed and Hamas was not eliminated from Gaza. “Israel will act with an intensity that you have not seen,” he said.
Gaza health authorities said dozens of people were killed on Wednesday in several Israeli air raids, including a foreign UN employee killed in an attack on a UN compound in central Gaza. Israel said it attacked Hamas targets in central Gaza.
Medics said they are struggling to cope with the sharp increase of fatalities and wounded as hospitals lack medical supplies amid the renewed Israeli blockade.
