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JAFFA, Israel — Israeli forces have launched "extensive" ground operations in northern and southern Gaza, the military said Sunday, as airstrikes across the territory killed about 100 people and flagging ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas were underway in Qatar.
Later Sunday, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government would "introduce a basic amount of food to the population" of Gaza. "On the recommendation of the IDF … Israel will introduce a basic amount of food to the population in order to ensure that a hunger crisis does not develop in the Gaza Strip," the statement said.
It did not connect the announcement to ongoing ceasefire talks in Qatar, where Israeli and Hamas delegations are considering variations of a proposal that would see the release of some Israeli hostages, who were abducted during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, in exchange for another temporary ceasefire. But it was unclear whether the ground operations would undermine the talks, even as long-standing obstacles remained, including Hamas's demand for a lasting end to the war and Israel's insistence that the group fully disarm.
"We will increase control over the Gaza Strip by dividing the territory and moving the population," IDF spokesman Effie Defrin said during a short briefing with reporters on Sunday. Five divisions are now operating in the territory, after a "preliminary wave of strikes" over the past week were carried out in support of the incursions on the ground, the IDF said.
Israel's security cabinet had signed off on a plan this month to push Gaza's population of more than 2 million people to the southern part of the enclave, after which Palestinians fear they will be permanently expelled from their land.
"I would rather die than leave my home," said Shaimaa Abu Haseera, a mother of three boys staying in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City. She said she would not heed the military's orders to evacuate. "There is nowhere safe to go," she added.
It was unclear Sunday where exactly the ground operations were taking place. Israel has maintained a military presence in key areas of Gaza, withdrawing only partially during the eight-week ceasefire. Since then, Israeli forces have prepared for a wide-scale invasion of the enclave, according to officials and local media reports.
In recent days, tanks amassed along Israel's border with Gaza. "We are in a prolonged war," Defrin said.
Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 others hostage. Many of those who were abducted have since been rescued, released or confirmed dead by Israeli authorities. Israel believes 23 hostages are still alive; last week, Hamas freed Edan Alexander, 21, an IDF soldier and dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, as a goodwill gesture to the Trump administration. The [terrorist] group said it hoped his release would help facilitate another ceasefire with Israel.
But on Sunday, nearly a week after Alexander was reunited with his family, images from across Gaza showed Palestinians sifting through scorched debris, pulling the dead and wounded from the rubble and fleeing their homes near the periphery, piling mattresses and other belongings atop rickety cars and donkey carts.
In a statement, the International Committee of the Red Cross said it was urgently calling for the "immediate protection of civilians and health-care facilities."
Two people familiar with the matter said the strike's target was Mohammed Sinwar, the younger brother of slain Hamas [terrorist] Yahya Sinwar, who now heads the group's military wing. The two spoke on the condition of anonymity last week because they were not authorized to talk to the media. It is unclear whether Sinwar was killed in the strike.
"Hamas is under a lot of pressure. They lost almost all of their leadership," said Amir Avivi, a former deputy commander in the IDF's Gaza division. "And they understand that the army is serious about conquering vast areas of Gaza."
Akram Abu Khousa is a farmer from northern Gaza who was displaced to the enclave's central region. Israeli forces seized his land in Beit Lahia as a part of an extended buffer zone they've established in the territory.
"The war never stopped in the first place," Abu Khousa said. "They say the attack on Hamas began, but really it's an attack on civilians, children, women and old people."