GAZA: Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 23 Palestinians on Tuesday, local health officials said, as the Israeli military expanded evacuation orders to tens of thousands of residents across the enclave.

The Israeli military resumed its campaign against Hamas in Gaza a week ago, shattering a two-month ceasefire. Since then, nearly 700 people, mostly women and children, have been killed, Palestinian health officials say.

Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has already been displaced by the fighting multiple times during nearly 18 months of conflict and is facing worsening shortages of food and water after Israel suspended aid deliveries earlier this month.

On Tuesday, the Israeli army told residents in all northern border towns to evacuate, saying Palestinian rockets had been fired at Israel from the area. The affected towns include Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Shejaia in Gaza City. Orders were also issued for areas in Khan Younis and Rafah in the south.

Tel Aviv to seize more Palestinian land if Hamas keeps refusing to free prisoners, says minister

Palestinian and United Nations officials say there are no safe areas in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas, which accuses Israel of abandoning the Jan 19 ceasefire deal, said it was cooperating with a new effort, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, to restore calm and conclude the three-phase ceasefire agreement. According to some Hamas sources, there has been no breakthrough.

UN cut

The United Nations is cutting its international staff in Gaza by around a third, a UN spokesperson said on Tuesday, citing safety concerns. “We are trying to reduce the number of international staff by about one third and this is really because the Secretary General (Antonio Guterres) doesn’t have the power of guaranteeing the safety of UN staff,” UN spokesperson Alessandra Vellucci told a Geneva press briefing, saying that this meant around 30 of 100 international staff.

The agencies affected included the World Food Programme, the World Health Organisation and the UN children’s agency, she added.

Seizing Gaza

“Israel will take more territory in Gaza and fight until Hamas is wiped out if the Palestinian group Hamas keeps refusing to free remaining hostages”, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday.

He spoke as mediators continued efforts to salvage Gaza’s ceasefire deal shattered by Israel’s renewal of air and ground conflict on March 18 after it and Hamas failed to agree on terms for an extension of the two-month-old truce.

Israel has said it will never again accept Hamas governance and military power in Gaza following Oct 7, 2023 raid.

The Israeli military said last week that its forces had begun a focused ground operation in the central and southern Gaza Strip after it resumed bombardments in the besieged enclave that have killed hundreds of Palestinians.

“If Hamas continues with its intransigence, it will pay heavy prices that get higher and higher in the taking of territory (by Israel) and in taking out militants and terror infrastructure until its complete surrender,” Katz said in a video reported by Israeli media.

The latest campaign of Israel against Gaza has been among the deadliest since the conflict began 17 months ago, splintering a shaky ceasefire that had largely prevailed since it went into effect on Jan 19.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2025