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FLEEING. A boy pushes a bike loaded with belongings, as Palestinians make their way to flee their homes, after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders for a number of neighborhoods, following heavy Israeli strikes, in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip March 19, 2025.
Abd Elhkeem Khaled/Reuters
Israel and Hamas accuse each other of breaching a truce, which had offered a respite for Gaza's 2.3 million residents after 17 months of war that has reduced the enclave to rubble
CAIRO, Egypt – Israeli strikes killed at least 10 Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday, March 19, local health workers said, as the Israeli military resumed its bombardments and issued new orders for residents to evacuate combat zones.
The Israeli military said it had struck a Hamas site in northern Gaza, where it had detected preparations for firing into Israeli territory.
On Tuesday, Israeli airstrikes killed more than 400 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, in one of the highest single-day death tolls since the beginning of conflict, ending weeks of relative calm since a ceasefire in January.
Israel warned the onslaught was “just the beginning”.
Israel and Hamas accuse each other of breaching the truce, which had offered a respite for Gaza’s 2.3 million residents after 17 months of war that has reduced the enclave to rubble and forced the majority of its population to displace multiple times.
On Wednesday, the Israeli army dropped leaflets on areas in Beit Hanoun and Khan Younis in the northern and southern Gaza Strip, ordering residents to evacuate their homes, warning they were in “dangerous combat zones.”
“Staying in the shelters or the current tent puts your lives and that of your family members in danger, evacuate immediately,” read a leaflet dropped on Beit Hanoun.
One person was killed and four were wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a United Nations headquarters site in the central Gaza strip on Wednesday, the Gaza health ministry said.
Israel’s military denied the report it had struck a UN compound in Deir el Balah in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that he had ordered strikes because Hamas had rejected proposals to secure an extension of the ceasefire until April.
Hamas, which still holds 59 of about 250 hostages Israel says the group seized in its October 7, 2023 cross-border attack, accused Israel of jeopardizing efforts by mediators to negotiate a permanent deal to end the fighting.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday that she told Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar that the situation in Gaza is “unacceptable”.
Meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, Jordan’s King Abdullah called for the ceasefire to be restored and for aid flows to resume.
“Israel’s resumption of attacks on Gaza is an extremely dangerous step that adds further devastation to an already dire humanitarian situation,” he said.
Arab plan in jeopardy
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Wednesday called for restraint from all sides ahead of her trip to Lebanon to discuss the conflict.
“The resumption of fighting … jeopardizes the positive efforts of the Arab states, which together want to pursue a peaceful path for Gaza, free from Hamas,” Baerbock said in a statement.
Israel and Western powers do not want the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to play any role in the enclave when the war is over. Israel has vowed to crush Hamas, but the Palestinian militant group remains the dominant force in Gaza.
Arab nations drew up a plan for peace and reconstruction in Gaza after a proposal from U.S. President Donald Trump to resettle Palestinians and turn it into the “Riviera” of the Middle East triggered outrage in the region. However, the plan has not gained traction.
In Wednesday’s violence, three people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Sabra suburb in Gaza City, while another airstrike left two men dead and wounded six others in Beit Hanoun town in the north, the Gaza health officials said.
Palestinian medics said Israeli tank shelling on the Salahdeen road killed one Palestinian and wounded others, while an Israeli airstrike killed three people in a house in Beit Lahiya town north of the enclave.
Israeli naval vessels also attacked several boats, whichIsrael said intended to carry out “terrorist” acts by Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups. Palestinians said an Israeli drone fired at several fishing boats onshore of Gaza City, setting several of them ablaze.
Hamas officials said they remained keen on concluding the three-phase ceasefire deal as signed.
Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. The subsequent Israeli campaign in Gaza has killed more than 49,000 people, say Palestinian health authorities.
Since Tuesday, 436 Palestinians have been killed, including 183 children, the health ministry said. – Rappler.com
