Israel orders expansion of ground operation in Gaza, seizure of more territory

The Israeli army has been instructed to seize more territory in Gaza — while evacuating Palestinians — as it expands its ground operation. Israel said the longer Hamas refuses to release the remaining hostages, the more territory they will lose, according to Defense Minister Israel Katz.

“We will intensify the fighting with strikes from the air, sea and land and by expanding the ground maneuver until the hostages are released and Hamas is defeated, while using all military and civilian means of pressure — including evacuating the Gaza population to the south and implementing U.S. President Trump’s voluntary transfer plan for Gaza residents,” the Ministry of Defense said in a statement, translated from Hebrew.

“If the Hamas terrorist organization continues to refuse to release the hostages — I have instructed the IDF to seize additional territories, while evacuating the population, and expand the security zones around Gaza for the benefit of protecting Israeli communities and IDF soldiers, through permanent maintenance of the territory by Israel. The more Hamas continues its refusal, the more territory it will lose to Israel,” the ministry said, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.

Israel ended the ceasefire with Hamas on Tuesday launching a series of extensive strikes and vowing to open the “gates of hell.” Nearly 600 people have been killed and over 1,000 injured since the ceasefire was broken, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

At least 180 of those killed this week were children, according to the ministry. Tuesday was the deadliest day for children in this conflict, with 130 being killed in a single day of Israeli bombings, according to UNICEF.

A United Nations staff member was killed and five other personnel were seriously injured in an Israeli strike on Wednesday. The deaths brought the number of U.N. staff members killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, to 280 people, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

“The locations of all U.N. premises are known to the parties to the conflict, who are bound by international law to protect them and maintain their absolute inviolability,” a spokesperson for Guterres said.

“The Secretary-General stresses the need for the ceasefire to be respected to bring an end to the suffering of the people. Humanitarian aid must reach all people in need. The hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally,” the spokesperson said.

Israeli leaders made the decision to resume strikes on Gaza several days before they began, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Delegations from Israel and Hamas were meeting to negotiate in the week leading up to the end of the ceasefire.

Israel is demanding the release of all the remaining hostages, living and dead, with stages of a ceasefire in between releases, according to the ministry.

Israel ended the fragile ceasefire with Hamas on March 17. The ceasefire had been in place since Jan. 19 when phase one of the proposed three-phase ceasefire deal agreed to, right before U.S. President Joe Biden left office, went into effect.

The first phase of the ceasefire deal ended on March 2, the same day Israel implemented a stop on all humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The next two phases of the ceasefire deal were supposed to be negotiated as the first phase was in place, but negotiations between the two sides have made little progress in recent weeks.

The second phase of the agreement signed by Hamas and Israel was supposed to begin in early March. Days before it was set to begin, Israel said it would not withdraw from the Philadelphi corridor as stipulated in ceasefire — a key sticking point in negotiations.

As part of the second phase of the agreement, which was agreed to as part of a draft proposal with final negotiations to come, Hamas and Israel would reach a sustained calm. There would be a permanent cessation of military operations and all hostilities to be implemented before the exchange of remaining Israeli male hostages, civilians and soldiers for an agreed-upon number of prisoners in Israeli jails and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.

President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, proposed a new agreement that would last until April 20. On the first day of his outline, half of the hostages would be released in one group. At the end of the outline — if an agreement was reached — the remaining hostages would also be released, all at once.

Hamas has refused this proposal, saying Witkoff only discussed the release of hostages in recent negotiation meetings, but did not address larger issues that were supposed to be negotiated before terms of the second phase were agreed upon. Israel has agreed to the Witkoff proposal.

Hamas had agreed to release Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander and the bodies of four other dual nationals last week, but the U.S. and Israel balked at the deal.

The White House said last week that it had presented a bridge proposal to Hamas to extend the ceasefire beyond Ramadan and Passover to allow time to negotiate a permanent ceasefire.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia have condemned the resumption of aggression against the Gaza Strip and the direct shelling of civilian areas.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said it “strongly condemns” the Israeli airstrikes of Gaza, which constitute a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire and represents a “dangerous escalation. That threatens to have severe consequences for the stability of the region.”

Far-right Israeli Minister Ben Gvir and his party have rejoined Netanyahu’s coalition in the Knesset, after leaving when the ceasefire went into effect earlier this year.

ABC News’ Guy Davies contributed to this report.