The Japan Times - Israel says 30 percent of Gaza turned into buffer zone

Israel resumed air and ground attacks across the Gaza Strip on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas that had largely halted hostilities, with rescuers on Wednesday saying at least 11 were killed in strikes across the Palestinian territory.

The UN said an estimated 500,000 Palestinians have been displaced since the end of the Gaza ceasefire, triggering what it described as one of the most severe humanitarian crises the territory has faced in more than 18 months of war.

The Israeli military on Wednesday said that as part of its resumed operations, it had "achieved full operational control over several key areas and routes throughout the Gaza Strip".

"Approximately 30 percent of the Gaza Strip's territory is now designated as an Operational Security Perimeter."

It added that Israeli air strikes had hit "approximately 1,200 terror targets" and that "more than 100 targeted eliminations have been carried out" since March 18.

Defence Minister Israel Katz had declared earlier this month that the military was seizing "large areas" of Gaza, leaving it "smaller and more isolated".

Top Israeli officials have repeatedly said that military pressure was the only way to force Hamas to release the 58 hostages still held in Gaza.

- 'No aid for Gaza' -

On Wednesday, the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad released a video of an Israeli-German hostage, showing him alive and appealing to Israeli authorities and US President Donald Trump to secure his release.

His family and Israeli media identified him as Rom Braslavski from Jerusalem, who was abducted by militants from the Nova music festival during Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Katz announced that Israel would continue preventing aid from entering the besieged territory of 2.4 million people.

Israel had already halted the entry of aid into Gaza on March 2, exacerbating the severe humanitarian crisis in the war-battered territory.

"Israel's policy is clear: no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza, and blocking this aid is one of the main pressure levers preventing Hamas from using it as a tool with the population," Katz said.

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Israeli military operations and the aid blockade had transformed Gaza into a graveyard for Palestinians and aid workers.

"Gaza has been turned into a mass grave of Palestinians and those coming to their assistance," said MSF coordinator Amande Bazerolle.

"With nowhere safe for Palestinians or those trying to help them, the humanitarian response is severely struggling under the weight of insecurity and critical supply shortages, leaving people with few, if any, options for accessing care," she said.

On Wednesday, the UN reported estimates that "about half a million people have been newly displaced or uprooted once more" in Gaza since March 18.

The world body had warned on Monday that Gaza was facing its most severe humanitarian crisis since the war began in October 2023.

"The humanitarian situation is now likely the worst it has been in the 18 months since the outbreak of hostilities," said the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

- ICJ hearings -

Israel controls the entry of all aid and supplies to Gaza.

On April 28, the International Court of Justice is set to open hearings on Israel's humanitarian obligations towards Palestinians.

The UN General Assembly approved a resolution in December requesting that The Hague-based top court give an advisory opinion on the matter.

It calls on the ICJ to clarify what Israel is required to do to "ensure and facilitate the unhindered provision of urgently needed supplies essential to the survival of the Palestinian civilian population".

Although ICJ decisions are legally binding, the court has no concrete way of enforcing them.

Israel continued to pound Gaza on Wednesday.

At least 11 people were killed in air strikes, 10 of them in an attack on Gaza City, the civil defence agency said.

The renewed assault has so far killed at least 1,652 people in Gaza, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory reported, bringing to 51,025 the total toll since the war erupted in October 2023, most of them civilians.

Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

T.Kobayashi--JT