The Israeli army widened its operations on the ground through the Gaza Strip on Thursday while Hamas pulled rockets on the center of Israel for the first time in months, in what was more and more like a shift to the large -scale war.
Israeli soldiers began to descend a part of the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, said the army, as well as near Beit Lahiya in the north of the enclave. These movements occurred one day after Israel announced that it had taken up part of the Netzarim corridor, which bisette Central Gaza, after having retired from the region as part of the ceasefire in January with Hamas.
There was no report of victims of the Hamas rockets, which were drawn in the coastal city of Tel Aviv. The Israeli army said the three rockets were either intercepted or fell into open areas.
The climbing of hostilities occurred after a two-month-old ceasefire in Gaza collapsed this week with Mortal Israeli air bombardment In the territory, which declared the army had targeted Hamas. Israel argued that the truce could only continue if Hamas released more hostages to Gaza, while Hamas accused Israel of having violated the cease-fire agreement.
The end of the potential game of this series of fights, however, remained far from clear. Israel and Hamas have set conditions apparently incompatible for the next stages of the ceasefire, and the renewed Israeli assault had not yet formed Hamas to accept its requests.
Husam Badran, a senior Hamas official, said in an interview Thursday that the group was not willing to disarm its military wing – a key Israeli condition to end the war.
“If you do this, you give the occupation the opportunity to kill without any Palestinian response,” said Badran from Doha, Qatar.
He added that Hamas had delayed the dismissal of the rockets until Thursday to try to give the mediators more time to put pressure on Israel to stop its attacks. But while Israel continued his assault and the number of deaths increased in Gaza, he said: “Hamas had to indicate that it can answer.”
The renewed Israeli aggression has killed more than 500 people in Gaza in the last three days, including dozens of children, the Gazan Ministry of Health announced on Thursday. The figures are not distinguished between civilians and combatants.
The United States, which sought to negotiate an extension of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, threw its weight behind the Israeli offensive. Karoline Leavitt, spokesperson for the White House, told journalists on Thursday that President Trump “fully supports Israel” and “the actions they have taken in recent days”.
After the attack on the Hamas rockets, the Israeli army warned the Palestinians of Bani Suheila, in southern Gaza, to flee, saying that activists drew from the region. Avichay Adraee, Israeli military spokesperson, called He “a last warning in advance” before an Israeli attack.
Hamas said that at least five upper members of its Gaza management were on Tuesday hundreds of people killed in Israeli strikes. The Israeli army said on Thursday that it had killed at least two other Hamas security officials.
In Gaza, the climbing of the conflict caused the panic and the fear of the Palestinians, who had hoped for a longer respite against violence. Many said they had soon seen hope for a resolution to the crisis.
Abdelkarim al-Harazin, 28, doctor of Gaza City, said that the truce had given the Palestinians for a few weeks to recover from a year of hunger and deprivation: border passages had reopened and that the aid had flowed. Now, whatever the food that is sold at “high prices in the sky” out of reach for many people who have lost everything in the war, he said.
He accused Israel of having broken the ceasefire. But he also said that Hamas leaders are expected to hand over the dozens of Israeli and foreign hostages still held in Gaza to save the Palestinians more Israeli attacks.
“Everyone is exhausted,” said Al-Harazin. “How long should we continue to live like this?”
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, promised to put Hamas to put pressure on Hamas until the group capitulates and releases more hostages. According to Israel, around 24 Israeli and foreign captives living – as well as the remains of more than 30 others – are in Gaza.
Hamas officials claim that their requests for the release of the rest of the captives remain unchanged, including an agreement to end the war, a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. and the release of more Palestinian prisoners.
The 15 -month war in Gaza killed more than 48,000 people in the territory, including thousands of children, according to the Gazan Ministry of Health. Hamas sparked the conflict by conducting a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and saw around 250 hostages in Gaza.
The ceasefire reached in January obtained an initial truce of six weeks while the mediators sought to fill the gaps between Israel and Hamas on a full truce. But he was unleashed in early March without a broader agreement.
Almost immediately, Israel prevented humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, including food and medicine, in an apparent effort to put pressure on Hamas in negotiations to release more hostages. Later, the Israeli government cut the electricity it provided to a desalination plant.
Mediators and the United States tried to conclude an agreement to extend the truce, including a permanent end of war and the release of remaining living hostages. Steve Witkoff, the Middle East envoy of Mr. Trump, presented a proposal that would extend the initial ceasefire in exchange for the release of more captives.
Mr. Badran, the head of Hamas, suggested that the group was willing to show a certain flexibility on such an agreement to revive talks aimed at ending the war. Previously, Hamas had only spoken to release a living living and four American-Israeli hostages killed in such an agreement, keeping more than 50 others in Gaza.
“The problem is not the figures,” said Badran. “We act positively with any proposal that leads to the start of the negotiations” on a permanent truce.
But Israel did not want to end the war as long as Hamas still controls Gaza. Hamas refuses to dissolve its armed battalions or send its leaders into exile.
Members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the Israeli Parliament – who receive classified intelligence briefings – said in a recent letter This Hamas had even more than 25,000 fighters.
The Allies of Hamas in Yemen, the Houthi militia supported by Iran, also resumed shooting missiles on Israeli territory, triggering air raid sirens in the central and southern regions of the country at least three times in the last two days.
The Houthis fired missiles and drones in Israel for more than a year of solidarity with the Gaza activists, stopping only when the ceasefire entered into force in January.
During last week, US war planes led to large -scale attacks in Yemen against the Houthis, in what US officials proclaimed an attempt to prevent the group from targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea.
Trump said Wednesday that the Houthis would be “completely destroyed” and warns Iran to stop supporting activists. Israel and the Biden administration had bombed the Houthis several times without succeeding in detering them.
Rawan Sheikh Ahmad,, Ephrat Livni And Myra November Contributed reports.
