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Israel has started a new ground operation in Gaza, reclaiming territory it ceded as part of a now-shattered ceasefire and threatening further military force if Hamas does not release its remaining hostages in the strip.
The ground manoeuvres come a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ended the truce, launching wide-ranging air strikes that killed more than 400 people in Gaza in what was one of the deadliest days since the war began 17 months ago.
“The air force attack against Hamas terrorists was only the first step,” said Israel Katz, the defence minister, threatening the “complete destruction” of the besieged enclave.
“If all the Israeli hostages are not released and Hamas is not eliminated from Gaza, Israel will act with force you have never known before,” he said in a statement.
The Israeli military issued forced evacuation orders to Palestinians, telling them to flee east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, and said its troops had retaken control of the so-called Netzarim corridor, which in effect splits Gaza between north and south.
The latest offensive brought an end to the fragile, two-month ceasefire in which Hamas released dozens of hostages and Israel pulled back from large parts of the strip.
The multiphase deal, which was meant to lead to a permanent end to the war and the freedom of the remaining captives, broke down after Israel made new demands of Hamas.
Netanyahu earlier this month ordered a full siege of Gaza and blamed the group for refusing to accept a new, tougher proposal to release up front many of the remaining 59 hostages — of whom roughly two dozen are still believed to be alive — without agreeing to end the war.
Local health officials say that more than 48,000 people have been killed since Israel began its offensive in response to Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack on the country, in which militants killed 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage.
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