Updates: Israel kills at least 60 today as central Gaza strikes rise

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Want to know how Trump took credit for the Gaza ceasefire – and then let it unravel? Read here.

Watch our video report on how Israeli forces have retaken Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor here.

And, to follow all of our coverage of Israel’s war in Gaza, click here.

This live page will close soon. But, before we go, here are some of today’s major developments:

• The Israeli military said it has retaken the Netzarim Corridor, again splitting the Gaza Strip in half and preventing free movement of residents. The army withdrew from the strip of land as part of the terms of phase one of the ceasefire.
• The US State Department said there is still “a bridge proposal” on the table that would extend the ceasefire in Gaza, but the opportunity is “closing fast”.
• A Bulgarian citizen working for the UN was killed in Deir el-Balah during Israel’s latest attack on Gaza, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry confirmed. The UN secretary-general condemned the attack, which wounded five others, without explicitly assigning blame to Israel.
• The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah said that the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank are facing a health catastrophe due to ongoing Israeli attacks on healthcare facilities.
• Iran must “immediately” stop sending military supplies to the Houthis, Trump said, adding that US strikes on the group “will get progressively worse” and that “they will be completely annihilated”. A new round of air strikes was carried out on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen today by the US.

Israel’s renewed bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 400 people, including at least 180 children.

Here are some of their stories:

Italy’s minister of foreign affairs has expressed serious concern over Israel’s renewed escalation in Gaza, the Agenzia Nova news agency reports.

Antonio Tajani made the comments during an event at the De Gasperi Foundation in Rome. “We are very concerned about what is happening in Gaza, and we want negotiations to resume as soon as possible to reach the second phase of the ceasefire,” Tajani said.

The minister discussed the Italian-led “Food for Gaza” project, which remains ongoing, as well as the transfer of sick Palestinian children to Italy for treatment.

“We share the Arab plan for the reconstruction of Gaza,” he added. “We have a very clear position: two peoples, two states. We hope that this resumption of the conflict will end as soon as possible.”

The UN agency for children in crisis has called for the ceasefire in Gaza to be reinstated amid Israel’s renewed escalation.

“A million children in Gaza have been plunged back into a world of fear and death,” the agency wrote in a post on X. “International humanitarian law must be respected by all parties, allowing the immediate provision of aid, protection of civilians, and release of hostages.”

As we reported earlier, Israel has killed more than 180 children since it began intense attacks on Gaza on Tuesday.

A million children in Gaza have been plunged back into a world of fear and death.

The ceasefire must be reinstated now.

International humanitarian law must be respected by all parties, allowing the immediate provision of aid, protection of civilians, and release of hostages. pic.twitter.com/kv9twykrdT

— UNICEF (@UNICEF) March 19, 2025

The Israeli military is launching a very devastating aerial and land campaign in the Gaza Strip. We have seen that the scale of the strikes has expanded beyond what Palestinians can really endure during the past 24 hours.

We are talking about a staggering death toll that surpassed more than 60 Palestinians since the early hours of this morning, killed by the Israelis in indiscriminate attacks.

During the past few hours, we have heard sporadic explosions coming from the eastern areas of Deir el-Balah. It seems that the escalation is also expanding in the Nuseirat refugee camp, adjacent to the  Netzarim Corridor, where a residential home in the past few hours has been bombed by Israeli forces. Three civilians were killed in the strike.

The key attack that took place today was on the headquarters of the UN agency in Deir el-Balah, where one international staff member was killed and five others wounded.

Elsewhere, there has also been remarkable escalation, and the attacks have included the targeting of a funeral home in Beit Lahiya, where 24 Palestinians were killed, including children, and elsewhere, people started evacuating areas that are close to the presence of Israeli forces.

The Irish and British foreign ministers have condemned the atrocities taking place in Gaza.

“We have witnessed appalling scenes from Gaza again today. The international community cannot accept this step backwards,” Simon Harris, Ireland’s foreign minister, said in a post on X, referring to Israeli air strikes on the enclave.

“A return to hostilities is disastrous for the people of Gaza, and for the hostages and their families.”

We have witnessed appalling scenes from Gaza again today.
The international community cannot accept this step backwards. We need an urgent end to hostilities.

Full statement: pic.twitter.com/xNbX6j297Z

— Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) March 19, 2025

Meanwhile, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy lamented the death of UN workers in Gaza after a UN compound was hit by Israel.

“Appalled a UN compound in Gaza was hit this morning. My thoughts are with the victims and their families,” said Lammy.

Appalled a UN compound in Gaza was hit this morning. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.

This incident must be investigated transparently and those responsible held to account.

The UN and humanitarian workers must be protected.

— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) March 19, 2025

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has discussed the ongoing situation in Gaza in a phone call with a Hamas official, Khalil al-Hayya, according to a Turkish Foreign Ministry source cited by Reuters.

Israeli forces detained Palestinians and forced residents to flee in the Ein Beit el-Ma refugee camp near Nablus, as part of an ongoing military escalation in the occupied West Bank.

Two young Palestinians sustained injuries from Israeli army gunfire in the village of Madama and the town of Beit Furik, near the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, Wafa reports, citing local sources.

Sources said that Israeli forces ransacked several houses in Madama, and interrogated villagers while firing at them.

They also simultaneously stormed Beit Furik while firing live ammunition.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said that its medics provided first aid treatment to a 19-year-old youth and a 16-year-old teenager.

More than 80 Palestinian families have been displaced from the al-Ein refugee camp near the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reports.

The families have been forcibly expelled from their homes amid an ongoing Israeli military escalation in the area, Ibrahim Shattawi, deputy head of the al-Ein Camp Services Committee, told the agency.

According to Shattawi, Israeli forces stormed the homes and forced residents to leave at gunpoint before turning the buildings into military barracks. Several camp residents were detained, while those forced out of their homes sought refuge with relatives and in local mosques.

The resumption of hostilities in Gaza puts “millions of lives at risk again”, the director-general of the World Health Organization has said.

In a post on X, the director, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, paid tribute to the UNOPS staffer killed during Israel’s latest escalation in Gaza.

“This incident follows strikes that have killed hundreds of people, including children,” he wrote. “We call for the immediate resumption of the ceasefire, for the release of all hostages, and for the protection of humanitarian workers and civilians.”

The Israeli military says its ongoing escalation in Gaza, which has already killed at least 436 people, is intended to create a “partial buffer” in the territory.

In a post on X, the military wrote that over the past 24 hours, its forces “have begun a focused ground operation in the center of the Gaza Strip and in the south with the aim of expanding the security area and creating a partial buffer between the north and south of the Strip”.

It added that as part of the operation, Israeli forces retook control of the Netzarim Corridor, from which they had withdrawn in February under phase one of the ceasefire.

The Israeli-established corridor separates northern Gaza from the south. Palestinians are once again being forced to leave areas they call home.

Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut reports from Amman, Jordan:

The United Nations Security Council will convene a special discussion about Israeli captives in Gaza on Thursday, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, has announced.

Eli Sharabi, a 53-year-old former captive who was released in February as part of the ceasefire deal, will speak before the council, Danon added.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah says that the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank are facing a health catastrophe due to ongoing Israeli attacks.

The ministry said Gaza faces a near-total collapse of the health system, while hospitals and medical centres in the West Bank are facing tremendous pressure.

“In the Gaza Strip, hospitals are operating at double capacity, amid a continuous influx of wounded and injured patients. The health system is suffering from a severe shortage of medicines, medical supplies, and fuel needed to operate medical equipment and generators,” the ministry said.

“The direct targeting of health facilities has put more than 80 percent of hospitals and medical centres out of service, while the few remaining facilities are suffering from severe overcrowding, a severe shortage of medical staff, and the impossibility of performing urgent surgeries due to the lack of anaesthesia and basic supplies.”

The ministry added: “In the West Bank, hospitals are under increasing pressure due to repeated attacks on Palestinian cities by occupation forces, which target medical personnel and impede ambulances from reaching the injured.”

The US State Department says there is still “a bridge proposal” on the table that would extend the ceasefire in Gaza but the opportunity is “closing fast”. 

“Right now, we still have a bridge proposal on the table that would extend the ceasefire and see the release of five live hostages, including American Edan Alexander,” a State Department spokesperson said, according to Reuters. “It would also see the release of a substantial number of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.”

“The opportunity is still there, but it’s closing fast,” the spokesperson added.

Hamas has condemned Israel’s targeting of a building in Deir el-Balah used by foreign workers with UN agencies, which resulted in the killing of one international employee and the wounding of five others.

“This crime is not only a blatant violation of international humanitarian law but also part of the occupation’s systematic policy of targeting civilians and aid workers, aiming to terrorise them and prevent them from fulfilling their humanitarian duty toward our people, further deepening the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip,” the group said in a statement.

“We call on the international community and the United Nations and its institutions to take a clear and decisive stand against this heinous crime, condemn the fascist actions of terrorist Netanyahu’s government, and work seriously to hold it accountable for its crimes against humanity,” the statement added.

The father of Israeli captive Alon Ohel is pleading with authorities to come to an agreement to return his son.

“Alon is screaming underground,” said Kobi Ohel, as reported by Israeli Army Radio.

“I demand that the decision-makers reach a deal. There is nothing else that can bring them back. He is injured and needs treatment that will restore his sight.”