Israel expands ground operations in north Gaza after deadly strike on school
LONDON -- The Israel Defense Forces said Friday morning that its ground troops began operating in the Shejaiya area of the northern Gaza Strip "in order to expand the security zone," apparently referencing Israel's buffer zone along the Gaza border.
"As part of the activity, the troops eliminated numerous terrorists and dismantled Hamas terrorist infrastructure, including a command and control center that served Hamas terrorists to plan and execute terror attacks," the IDF said in a statement.
"During and prior to the activity, IDF troops are allowing the evacuation of civilians from the combat zone via organized routes for their safety," the statement said.
Shejaiya is a neighborhood located in eastern Gaza City. On Thursday, at least 27 people were killed and 70 others were injured in an Israeli airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in the nearby Tuffah neighborhood, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
The IDF said at the time that it "struck prominent terrorists who were in a Hamas command and control center in the area of Gaza City."
Israeli forces announced they were expanding operations in Gaza having resumed military action there in March after a pause of nearly two months. That ceasefire saw 33 Israeli hostages released by Hamas in exchange for some 1,800 Palestinian prisoners, some of whom Israeli officials alleged were serving life sentences for murder and other violent crimes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that he ordered renewed strikes after Hamas refused Israeli demands to free half of the remaining hostages as a precondition for extending the ceasefire, the first phase of which expired on March 1.
The bombardment resumed with "full force," the prime minister said on March 18, adding that further negotiations "will continue only under fire."
Israel is demanding the immediate release of all remaining hostages -- consisting of 59 people, 24 of whom are still believed to be alive -- who were abducted to Gaza during the Hamas-led surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Some 1,200 people were killed in Israel during the attack, according to the Israeli government.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs Gaza, has accused Netanyahu of intentionally collapsing the ceasefire. On Friday, Hamas called for "days of rage and anger against the occupation and its backers until it ceases its aggression and completely lifts its siege on the Gaza Strip."
Last week, hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets in northern Gaza in a rare protest against Hamas, calling for the terror group to reach a ceasefire deal with Israel. The Associated Press reported that some videos appeared to show Hamas members dispersing the crowd.
Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health said on Friday that Israel's renewed action in the strip had killed 1,249 people and wounded 3,022 others since March 18.
The total death toll in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, now stands at 50,609, the ministry said, with 115,063 others wounded.
