Israeli Troops Begin Limited Ground Incursion In Gaza

Israel’s military started a limited ground operation in Gaza Wednesday, as it steps up pressure on Hamas to release remaining hostages. 

The ground incursion is the first since a six-week ceasefire between Israel and Hamas lapsed earlier this month. It wasn’t immediately clear how many troops are involved in the operation.

The army began “targeted ground activities” in the centre and south of the Palestinian territory with the aim of creating a partial buffer zone between northern and southern Gaza, the Israel Defence Forces said on X.

Ground forces had retreated from the bulk of positions in the Gaza Strip after the short ceasefire with Palestinian militant group Hamas went into force, in January. Troops and tanks redeployed to a buffer zone just inside the enclave’s borders with Israel and Egypt allowing Palestinians a degree of mobility between war-shattered cities and townships.

It is not clear whether the limited operation is a precursor of a wider advance into population centres in Gaza. In October 2023, days after Hamas crossed into Israel — killing 1,200 people and abducting 250 — troops were sent into Gaza for short and limited incursions before a full ground invasion. 

The IDF also said it has expanded control further to the centre of the Netzarim corridor, which runs from the Israeli border to the Mediterranean coast and essentially bisects Gaza. 

Minutes before the operation was announced, defence minister Israel Katz issued what he said was a “final warning”, saying unless the hostages are released, and Hamas removed, residents of Gaza would “soon” be evacuated again from battle zones.  

The return to ground operations follows Israeli airstrikes across the Palestinian territory, which effectively ended a nearly two-month halt to fighting, during which Hamas freed dozens of hostages in return for more than 1,000 Palestinians jailed by Israel. Talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt and overseen by the US between the warring parties are at a stalemate on the way forward.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says strikes followed Hamas’ repeated refusal to release the remaining 59 hostages, and its rejection of proposals from the US and mediators. The Palestinian militant group — which the US and other countries designate as terrorist — say terms of the ceasefire weren’t met, including the provision of aid supplies to war-torn Gaza.

In the war between Israel and Hamas more than 48,000 Gazans have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Vast stretches of the territory were reduced to rubble as Israel sought to eradicate the group.