A two-month ceasefire in Gaza collapsed this week amid renewed Israeli bombing, with the fighting now looking like it is sliding toward a full-scale war.
The Israeli military expanded its ground operations across the Gaza Strip on Thursday after Hamas fired rockets into central Israel for the first time in months in what appeared to be a slide toward all-out war.
Israeli soldiers launched a raid on parts of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the military said, as well as near Beit Lahia in the northern enclave. The action came a day after Israel announced it had recaptured part of the Netzarim corridor that bisects central Gaza after withdrawing from the area as part of a January cease-fire deal with Hamas.
There were no reports of casualties from Hamas rockets fired at the coastal city of Tel Aviv. The Israeli military said three rockets were either intercepted or fell in open areas.
The escalation in hostilities comes after a two-month ceasefire in Gaza was broken this week by a deadly Israeli aerial bombardment of the territory that the military said was aimed at Hamas. Israel has maintained that the truce cannot continue unless Hamas releases more hostages still held in Gaza, while Hamas has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire.
But the potential outcome of this round of fighting remained far from clear. Israel and Hamas had set seemingly incompatible conditions for the next steps in a ceasefire, and a renewed Israeli offensive had yet to force Hamas to accept its demands.
Hussam Badran, a senior Hamas official, said in an interview Thursday that the group is unwilling to disarm its military wing, a key Israeli precondition for ending the war.
Source: Planet Labs satellite images
Samuel Granados
