Farrukh Abadi
Israel launched a ground invasion in Gaza on Wednesday (03/19), retaking part of the Netzarim Corridor which divides northern and southern Gaza.
The invasion comes amid Israel’s wide-scale genocidal air campaign it began early Tuesday morning, so far killing over 450 Palestinians and injuring hundreds more. The airstrikes, which murdered a record number of children in a single day over the last year, also killed several Hamas governmental officials and Abu Hamza, the spokesman of the resistance organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad, along with his family.
Hamas has highlighted the US’s role in a statement on Wednesday: “The American administration bears direct responsibility for the innocent blood being shed in the Gaza Strip, including nearly two hundred children and one hundred women, killed by the machine of zionist terrorism and occupation under the protection of political cover and American weapons used to kill our people.”
Israel deployed the Golani Brigade in preparation for an invasion of southern Gaza while ordering the closure of the Rafah crossing to Egypt. The Israeli government also announced it would soon carry out forced evacuations from “combat zones”.
The invasion follows from genocidal Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s order to “act against Hamas with increasing military strength” after falsely accusing the latter of refusing negotiations—an accusation the US and Israel have repeatedly used to justify their genocidal escalations. While they claim the attacks will continue until Hamas abides by the US-Israel offer, Hamas has stated that they have already agreed to the original offer and that Netanyahu is seeking to continue the genocide to stave off his political crisis.
In a statement on Wednesday, Hamas wrote: “We affirm our commitment to the signed ceasefire agreement and call on the guarantor mediators to assume their responsibilities in curbing these irresponsible violations and breaches. We demand that the war criminal Netanyahu be held accountable and compelled to retract these actions, as he bears full responsibility for any ensuing repercussions.”
Hamas has called for mass mobilizations across the Palestinian territories and internationally, and tens of thousands have already mobilized around the world against the US-Zionist aggression.
Israel began evacuating its soldiers from the Netzarim Corridor in late January as part of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire. The Corridor was a main ground force launching point for Israel’s genocidal war since October 2023. During the entirety of the Battle of Al Aqsa Flood, the Palestinian national resistance, led by Hamas, carried out near daily attacks on the Israeli forces stationed in the Corridor.
“My message to the occupation: You will not shake our determination, even with continued assassination of our martyr leaders. This aggression will increase our resilience. This enemy understands only the language of force,” a Hamas communication stated. “We are doing our utmost to stop the aggression, but if the enemy invades by land, we will have no choice but to defend our people.”
Image: Aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on Gaza on March 18, retrieved from Al Mayadeen English
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