TUNIS, March 19. /TASS/. At least 14 people were killed and 32 wounded in an Israeli airstrike on an area near the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera reported.
According to the channel, Palestinians participating in a funeral ceremony came under fire.
Earlier, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced the resumption of ground operations in the Gaza Strip and the restoration of control over the Netzarim corridor in the central part of the enclave. Jewish Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the Palestinians must return all Israeli hostages and expel the radical Hamas movement from the Gaza Strip, otherwise Israel will "completely destroy" the enclave.
On March 18, the Israel Defense Forces carried out large-scale strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated that the move was due to Hamas’s rejection of proposals put forward by mediators and US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff. According to the Israeli authorities, the goal of the operation is to ensure the release of all hostages held in Gaza. Hamas, in turn, blamed Israel and the US for the resumption of military activities.