Israel retakes Netzarim Corridor, splitting Gaza in half again as ground operations expand
ByHT News Desk
Mar 20, 2025 02:56 AM IST
Gaza’s health ministry said that over 400 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes on Tuesday, making it the deadliest day in 17 months.
After breaking the ceasefire with Hamas on Tuesday, Israel launched heavy airstrikes that continued into Wednesday at a lower intensity, while its military regained control of a key corridor separating northern Gaza from the south, deepening its offensive.
Palestinians inspect the rubble of the Elias Tarazi family house, after it was destroyed in an Israeli strike in al-Sabra neighbourhood in Gaza City on March 19, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinians inspect the rubble of the Elias Tarazi family house, after it was destroyed in an Israeli strike in al-Sabra neighbourhood in Gaza City on March 19, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
The Israeli military said that it had strengthened its hold over the Netzarim Corridor, which runs through Gaza, as part of its ground operations, calling it a “focused” operation to create a partial buffer between the north and south of the enclave.
Israel's defence minister warned on Wednesday that attacks on Gaza would intensify “with an intensity that you have not known” unless Hamas releases hostages and gives up control of the territory.
Tuesday marked the deadliest day in Gaza in 17 months of war, with more than 400 Palestinians killed, nearly two-thirds of them women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
A strike on Wednesday evening hit a condolence gathering in the Salateen area of Beit Lahiya, killing mostly members of the same family, said Fares Awad, head of the health ministry’s emergency service in northern Gaza.
Among the dead were at least two children, aged 11 and 16, while a 65-year-old man and his two sons also lost their lives, Awad told The Associated Press.
Earlier in the day, another airstrike killed at least five people in the southernmost city of Rafah, according to Palestinian first responders.
The attack targeted a vehicle in the Musbah area on Wednesday afternoon, said the civil defence agency, which operates under the Hamas-run government. The casualties were taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where the deaths were confirmed.
Israel’s military said the Rafah strike targeted two Hamas militants and that its forces were “continuing extensive strikes throughout the Gaza Strip.”
UN chief condemns deadly strike on Gaza guesthouse
United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres condemned the deadly strike on a UN guesthouse in Gaza and called for an investigation, without directly naming Israel.
Israel denied targeting the compound, countering earlier reports. However, there have been no confirmed Hamas rocket attacks since Israel broke the ceasefire on Tuesday.
“The locations of all UN premises are known to the parties to the conflict, who are bound by international law to protect them,” Guterres said in a statement via UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq.
The UN has not yet disclosed the nationality of the international staff member working in Gaza.
With AP inputs
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