Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) expanded ground operations in the Gaza Strip on March 23 by launching a new offensive in the area of Beit Lahia in the northern part of the Palestinian enclave.
In a statement, the IDF said that the offensive in Beit Lahia was aimed at destroying the infrastructure of the Hamas Movement and expanding a buffer zone along the border. During the operation, Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck several Hamas targets in the area.
The military noted that it was allowing the remaining Palestinian civilians there to evacuate the “combat zone for their safety.”
More than 700 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been reportedly killed in a surprise attack by Israel on Gaza since March 18, shattering a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that was brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar last January.
Since the start of the attack, the IDF has also reoccupied key areas in the north, center and south of the Strip without facing any real resistance from Hamas and other Palestinian armed factions.
Before announcing the new offensive in Beit Lahia, the IDF issued an “urgent” and immediate evacuation warning for Palestinian civilians in the Tel Sultan neighborhood of the area of Rafah in southern Gaza.
In a post on the X social network, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee, published a map of the area that is to be evacuated, saying that “the area you are in is considered a dangerous combat zone” as the military carries out operations there.
Click to see full-size image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
Gazans were instructed to move on foot immediately via the so-called Gush Katif road toward the al-Mawasi area on the southern Strip’s coast. “Movement in vehicles is prohibited,” the spokesman noted.
He further warned that staying in Tel Sultan or traveling via other routes “puts your life and the lives of your families at risk.
“Evacuate the area immediately,” the post added.
Separately, Hamas confirmed on March 23 that one of its senior officials, Salah al-Bardawil, was killed along with his wife in one of the Israeli strikes that hit the area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza overnight. Bardawil was a well-known member of the group’s political bureau who gave media interviews over the years.
Al-Bardawil was the latest in a string of senior Hamas officials to have been killed since Israel renewed its attack on Gaza.
The lack of any resistance in Gaza appears to have encouraged Israel to up its goals, with the security cabinet approving a suggestion by Defense Minister Israel Katz to establish a new administration in the Defense Ministry tasked with enabling Palestinians to “voluntarily” leave the Strip.
In a statement issued late on March 22, Katz’s office said that the new directorate will work to “prepare for and enable safe and controlled passage of Gaza residents for their voluntary departure to third countries, including securing their movement, establishing movement routes, checking pedestrians at designated crossings in the Gaza Strip, as well as coordinating the provision of infrastructure that will enable passage by land, sea and air to the destination countries.”
The statement added that the efforts to enable Gazans who seek to migrate from the Strip to do so, are being carried out “subject to Israeli and international law, and in accordance with the vision of U.S. President Donald Trump.”
Trump proposed a plan to resettle Palestinians outside Gaza right after assuming office earlier this year. Recent reports revealed that both the U.S. and Israel had engaged Sudan, Somalia, Somaliland and even Syria on the matter. Palestinians had categorically rejected the proposal.
“We are working with all means to implement the US president’s vision, and we will allow any Gaza resident who wants to move to a third state to do so,” Katz said in the statement.
Overall, it appears that more than a year of fighting have taken a toll on Hamas and other factions in Gaza. With nearly 50,000 Palestinians killed and much of the Strip destroyed, the rulers of the enclave could soon make serious concessions like releasing all the remaining Israeli hostages.
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