At least 91 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza on Thursday after Israel resumed bombing and ground operations, according to the enclave’s health ministry.
Following two months of relative peace, residents fled their homes as Israel effectively abandoned the ceasefire, launching an extensive air and ground campaign. Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets in residential areas, ordering evacuations from Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun in the north, the Shejaia district in Gaza City, and towns on the outskirts of Khan Younis in the south.
“War is back, displacement and death are back. Will we survive this round?” said Samed Sami, 29, who fled Shejaia with his family to seek shelter in a camp on open ground.
A day after sending tanks into central Gaza, the Israeli military confirmed it had also begun ground operations in the north along the coastal route in Beit Lahiya. Palestinian militant group Hamas, which had not retaliated during the first 48 hours of renewed Israeli assaults, announced its fighters fired rockets into Israel. The Israeli military reported that sirens were triggered in central areas of the country as projectiles were launched from Gaza.
Palestinian medics reported that Israeli strikes targeted several residential buildings in northern and southern Gaza. The renewed offensive follows failed negotiations to extend the ceasefire, with Israel launching an extensive bombing campaign on Tuesday before deploying ground forces the following day.
On Thursday, the Israeli military said its forces had been engaged for the past 24 hours in an operation to expand a buffer zone between northern and southern Gaza, known as the Netzarim corridor. Israel ordered civilians to avoid the Salahuddin road, the enclave’s main north-south route, directing them to coastal areas instead.
The resumption of airstrikes on Tuesday resulted in the deaths of more than 400 Palestinians, marking one of the deadliest days of the war. Israeli strikes have also killed key Hamas figures, including the head of the de facto Gaza government, the chief of security services, his aide, and the deputy head of the Hamas-run justice ministry.
Hamas condemned the Israeli ground operation and incursion into the Netzarim corridor as a “new and dangerous violation” of the ceasefire agreement. The group reaffirmed its commitment to the truce and urged mediators to intervene.
A temporary ceasefire phase ended earlier this month. Hamas has sought to transition to a second phase, which would require Israel to negotiate a formal end to hostilities, withdraw troops, and exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners. Israel has rejected a long-term truce, instead opting to resume military operations to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages.
The ceasefire had allowed families like Huda Junaid’s to return to the ruins of their destroyed homes, but renewed fighting forced them to flee once more. “We don’t want war, we don’t want death. Enough, we are fed up,” she said. “There are no longer children in Gaza. All of our children are dead, all of our relatives are dead.”
Palestinians attempting to use the Salahuddin road reported that Israeli troops opened fire on civilian vehicles advancing toward Netzarim. The fate of those inside the cars remains unknown.
A taxi driver, speaking anonymously, described bulldozers escorted by tanks moving west from Israeli positions near the border fence east of the Salahuddin road.
Hamas officials said mediators had intensified efforts to broker a ceasefire extension, though no breakthrough had been reached. While some residents noted a lack of visible Hamas military activity, a member of an allied militant group stated that fighters had been placed on high alert, awaiting further instructions. Commanders also ordered fighters to refrain from using mobile phones.
The war began in October 2023 when Hamas launched an attack on Israeli communities, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Since then, more than 49,000 Palestinians have been killed, Gaza’s health ministry reports, with much of the enclave reduced to rubble.
