The IDF launches a limited ground invasion at central and southern Gaza to increase pressure on Hamas as the UN Security Council prepares to hold a special session on the hostages.
Neighbors watch as volunteers and rescue workers search for survivors among the rubble of a building hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, March 20, 2025. AP/Mariam Dagga
Israel is preparing to ramp up military pressure on Hamas as the terror group hasn’t changed its stance on the ceasefire since the IDF began launching widespread attacks in Gaza earlier this week.
The conclusion reached in last night’s security discussion at the Prime Minister’s Office is that “as of now time Hamas is not changing its positions despite the renewed attacks,” an Israeli official told The New York Sun in a text message, adding: “There is no escape from increasing military pressure.”
Qatari-owned newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, meanwhile, reported that a Hamas delegation is expected to visit Cairo on Thursday for ceasefire talks and that an Israeli military delegation visited the Egyptian capital on Wednesday evening to discuss the IDF’s expanded operations at Gaza.
The IDF revealed on Wednesday that soldiers and tanks had begun targeted ground activities in the central and southern Gaza Strip “in order to expand the security zone and to create a partial buffer between northern and southern Gaza.”
As part of the ground activities, the troops “expanded their control further to the center of the Netzarim Corridor,” the IDF added, referring to the corridor that separates north and south Gaza.
IDF’s Arabic spokesperson Colonel Avichay Adraee issued yet another warning to residents in Gaza on Thursday morning, saying: “For your safety, movement along Salah al-Din Road between the northern and southern parts of the Gaza Strip, in either direction, is prohibited. Instead, travel from northern Gaza to the south is possible via the Al-Rashid coastal road.”
Mr. Adraee said that the army requests that civilians “don’t approach IDF soldiers in the security zone or in any area where they are deployed.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu meanwhile postponed a government meeting to discuss the issue of the remaining hostages. The meeting, scheduled for Thursday, will take place on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. after the Sabbath.
The families of the hostages issued a blistering attack on Mr. Netanyahu, saying they were “furious” with his decision to postpone the meeting.
“The families requested in the beginning of the week, as it has for months now, an urgent meeting with the Prime Minister and the security cabinet. We have yet to receive a response,” reads a statement from the families.
Newly released hostage Eli Sharabi, whose wife and children were murdered on October 7, will give his testimony during a special session on the hostages at the UN Security Council on Thursday at 10 a.m. EST.
“Eli’s presence at this official briefing is particularly significant at this moment. While the UN continues its attacks on Israel, Eli will remind the world who we are fighting for. We will not stop until Hamas is defeated and every hostage returns home,” Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said.
Defense Minister Yisrael Katz issued a stark warning to Hamas, saying that the airstrikes in recent days were just the first step: “Things will become much more difficult, and you will pay the full price.”
Mr. Katz said that if the hostages aren’t released “Israel will operate with strength you have not yet seen. Take the U.S. president’s advice. Return the hostages and remove Hamas, and other options will open up for you, including leaving for other places in the world for those who desire.”