Israel announces ground operations, issues 'last warning' to Gazans

Israel announces ground operations, issues 'last warning' to Gazans

Palestinians flee Beit Hanun in north Gaza following an Israeli warning to evacuate.

Israel announced renewed ground operations in Gaza on Wednesday and issued what it called a "last warning" to residents of the Palestinian territory to return hostages and remove Hamas from power.

Israel conducted this week the deadliest wave of air strikes since the start of a truce in January, killing hundreds of people according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

The military said it had "begun targeted ground operations in the central and southern Gaza Strip to expand the security perimeter and create a partial buffer between the north and south".

As Israel kept up its renewed bombardment despite a chorus of calls from foreign governments to preserve the ceasefire, long lines of fleeing civilians filled the roads of Gaza on Wednesday.

Families with young children fled northern Gaza for areas further south, fearing for their lives after Israel urged civilians to leave areas it described as "combat zones".

Fred Oola, senior medical officer at the Red Cross' field hospital in Rafah, said the renewed strikes had shattered the relative calm of the past two months.

"Now, we can feel the panic in the air... and we can see the pain and devastation in the faces of those we are helping," he said in a statement. 

Addressing the "residents of Gaza" -- ruled by Hamas since 2007 -- Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a video statement that "this is 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 was referring to a warning earlier this month by US President Donald Trump, who said: "To the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD!"

Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war, 58 are still held by Gaza militants, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

- Impasse -

So far, Hamas has not responded militarily to the strikes, and an official from the group said it was open to talks on getting the ceasefire back on track.

He rejected, however, Israeli demands to renegotiate the three-stage deal agreed with Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators.

"Hamas has not closed the door on negotiations but we insist there is no need for new agreements," Taher al-Nunu told AFP, demanding Israel "begin the second phase of negotiations".

Talks have stalled over how to proceed with the ceasefire, whose first phase expired in early March.

Israel and the United States have sought to change the terms of the deal by extending phase one -- a stance rejected by Hamas.

That would delay the start of phase two, which was meant to establish a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza while the remaining hostages are released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

"Moving to the second phase seems to be a non-option for Israel," said Ghassan Khatib, a political analyst and former Palestinian Authority minister.

"They don't like the second phase because it involves ending the war without necessarily achieving their objective of ending Hamas."

- 'Shattering' hopes -

Israel and its ally the United States have portrayed Hamas's rejection of an extended phase one as a refusal to release more hostages.

The intense Israeli bombardment sent a stream of new casualties to the few hospitals still functioning in Gaza and triggered fears of a return to full-blown war after two months of relative calm.

A UN Office for Project Services employee was killed and at least five other people were wounded when a UN building in the central city of Deir el-Balah was hit, the agency said.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory blamed Israel, while the Israeli military denied striking the compound.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was "shocked" by the staff member's death and called for "a full investigation", said spokesman Farhan Haq.

Hamas called the incident "part of (Israel's) systematic policy of targeting civilians and aid workers, aiming to terrorise them and prevent them from fulfilling their humanitarian duty".

Thousands of Israeli protesters massed in Jerusalem, accusing Netanyahu of resuming strikes on Gaza without regard for the safety of the remaining hostages.

"We want him to know that the most important issue is to get the hostages back," said 67-year-old Nehama Krysler.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Israel's raids on Gaza "are shattering the tangible hopes of so many Israelis and Palestinians of an end to suffering on all sides".

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called the new strikes on Gaza "unacceptable".

The war began with Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in 1,218 deaths, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Wednesday that at least 436 people had been killed since Israel resumed its intense strikes.

As of Monday, before the latest strikes, the overall death toll in Gaza since the start of the war stood at more than 48,570, according to the territory's health ministry.

burs-smw/ami

Originally published as Israel announces ground operations, issues 'last warning' to Gazans