Israel launches a ground operation to retake part of a key corridor in northern Gaza

Israel launches ground operation in Gaza, intensifying attacks; U.N. staffer killed in Israeli strike on guesthouse.

Israel said Wednesday (March 19, 2025) it launched a “limited ground operation” in northern Gaza to retake part of a corridor that bisects the territory, and the country's Defense Minister warned that the army plans to step up the attacks that shattered a two-month ceasefire "with an intensity that you have not seen.”

The military said it had retaken part of the Netzarim corridor, which bisects northern Gaza from the south and from where it had withdrawn as part of the ceasefire with Hamas that began in January.

Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Palestinians in Gaza that the army would again order evacuations from combat zones soon, and that its attacks against Hamas would become more fierce if dozens of hostages held for more than 17 months weren’t freed.

As Israel continued its airstrikes on Gaza Wednesday, the United Nations said an international United Nations staffer was killed and five others were wounded in a strike Wednesday on a U.N. guesthouse in Gaza.

Jorge Moreira da Silva, head of the U.N. Office for Project Services, declined to say who carried out the strike in the central city of Deir al-Balah but said the explosive ordnance was “dropped or fired” and the blast was not accidental or related to demining activity.

He did not provide the nationalities of those killed and wounded. The U.N. body, known as UNOPS, carries out infrastructure and development projects around the world.

The Israeli military, which has carried out a heavy wave of airstrikes throughout Gaza since early Tuesday, denied earlier reports that it had targeted the U.N. compound.