News brief

Ceasefire in Gaza ends as IDF restarts offensive. Israel said on March 19 that it launched a “limited ground operation” to retake part of a key corridor in northern Gaza. In Israel, the resumption of airstrikes has raised concerns about the fate of roughly two dozen hostages still held by Hamas. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that if hostages held in the territory weren’t freed, “Israel will act with an intensity that you have not known.” The ceasefire essentially ended on March 18 after Israeli airstrikes killed more than 400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. 

After Hamas’ horrific Oct. 7 attack, Israelis mobilized almost without reservation for war, and sacrifice. But the airstrikes that killed hundreds in Gaza find many in Israel exhausted by the war and suspicious of their leaders’ motivations.

Arab world unites on Gaza. Can it get US, Israel, and Hamas on board?