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Israel warned Gazans on Thursday not to move between the north and south after its ground troops took control of the key Netzarim Corridor that divides the enclave, in a major offensive that has shattered two months of relative calm following a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
Israel continued its bombardment of Gaza that began early on Tuesday, with at least 85 Palestinians killed and 133 injured since the early hours of Thursday, according to Gaza's health ministry.
The Israeli army's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee in a post on X told Gazans not to travel via Salah Al Din road, the main thoroughfare up and down the territory. “Moving from the north to the south is allowed only via Al Rashid (Al Bahr) road,” he said, referring to a smaller, coastal route.
The Israeli ground operation aimed to “expand a defensive zone between the northern and southern Gaza Strip”, he added.
He later announced a new eviction order for residents of Bani Suheil in southern Gaza ahead of Israeli strikes on the area following rocket launches towards central Israel.
Israel resumed ground operations in Gaza on Wednesday, with Defence Minister Israel Katz warning that attacks on Hamas targets in the territory would increase until the militants free Israeli captives.
The army said it had moved into central parts of the Netzarim Corridor, which it had previously withdrawn from as part of the ceasefire. The truce ended when Israeli air strikes hit the enclave on Tuesday, killing more than 400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to figures from the Gaza Health Ministry.
“When the war resumed, our biggest fear was that they would once again divide the Gaza Strip. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened,” said Kamal Al Sharbasi, 34, a Gazan originally from the northern city of Beit Lahia who was displaced during the war to Deir Al Balah, south of the Netzarim Corridor.
He now finds himself completely cut off from his family, he told The National.
“For us, this feels like an entirely new and devastating war, because we have been completely cut off from each other – we can no longer visit or even see one another.
“War is terrifying, but what’s even more terrifying is being separated from our loved ones, especially since my mother is elderly.”
Hamas called the Israeli advance on the corridor a “new and dangerous violation of the ceasefire agreement”. It said the group was committed to the truce deal despite the violence, and that negotiations were continuing with mediators to stop the “aggression” and compel Israel to abide by the agreement.
“We adhere to the ceasefire agreement and are working with mediators to permanently spare our people from war and ensure the occupation's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip,” Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif Al Qanou said.
However, Hamas's armed wing, Al Qassam Brigades, later said it fired rockets at Tel Aviv after the Israeli army claimed it had intercepted three projectiles launched from the Gaza Strip. "We bombed the city of Tel Aviv ... with a barrage of M90 rockets in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians," a statement from the group read.
Qatar and Egypt, which mediated the ceasefire deal along with the US, called for greater efforts to implement the three phases of the agreement following a phone call between their foreign ministers. The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said US President Donald Trump "fully supports Israel and the IDF [Israeli military] and the actions that they've taken in recent days".
Mr Katz addressed Gazans directly in a video on Wednesday, telling them the renewed military operations were “the last warning”.
“Take the advice of the President of the United States. Return the hostages and remove Hamas, and other options will open up for you – including the possibility of leaving for other places in the world for those who want to,” he said.
The 6km Netzarim Corridor, named after the former Israeli settlement of Netzarim in Gaza, has been used as an occupation and buffer zone during Israel's 15-month war. Israeli troops began their withdrawal after the ceasefire began on January 19, and Gazans were allowed to enter the area in early February. A checkpoint run by Egypt and Qatar was overseeing passage through the corridor before this week.
Netzarim holds historic and strategic importance to Israel and was once described by former prime minister Ariel Sharon as having the same importance as Tel Aviv.
But for Asim Ishtaywi, 38, who was living close to the corridor, near Gaza's Kuwait Roundabout, the renewed Israeli military operations meant again uprooting his life.
“We reorganised our lives, thinking the war was finally over … two days ago, when the war restarted, we feared a ground invasion and the reoccupation of Netzarim. And that is exactly what happened,” he told The National.
“As soon as we heard the news, we packed what we could and evacuated to our relatives' home in Al Shujaiya in Gaza city. Staying in the area was too dangerous since it was too close to the army’s control zones. At any moment, tanks could reach us. It wasn’t just us – many of our neighbours also.”
The effective severing of the north from south has also hit the supply of food, residents said.
“As soon as the closure was announced and the Israeli army took control of the area, vegetable prices in the north skyrocketed,” said Munthir Abu Asad, 45 a vegetable trader from Deir Al Balah.
His shipments included tomatoes, cucumbers, leafy greens, courgette, and eggplants, all grown in the central and southern regions. But with the closure of the corridor, that lifeline has been cut.
“We used to transport vegetables to the north two or three times a day through the Netzarim Corridor. The people in northern Gaza depended on us after living for over a year and a half without access to fresh produce,” Mr Munthir told The National.
“We never expected this to happen again – the division of Gaza, commercial movements being split between north and south – and Israel once more starving our people.”
