April 24, 2025
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's defense minister said Friday he has ordered ground forces to advance deeper into the Gaza Strip, vowing to hold more land until the terrorist group Hamas releases the remaining hostages it holds.
After retaking part of the strategic Netzarim corridor that divides Gaza’s north from south, Israeli troops moved Thursday toward the northern town of Beit Lahiya and the southern border city of Rafah. The military said it had resumed enforcing a blockade on northern Gaza, including Gaza City.
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was delivered a setback in his attempt to fire the country's domestic security chief. Hours after Netanyahu's Cabinet unanimously approved the firing of Ronen Bar, the Supreme Court ordered a temporary halt to his dismissal until an appeal can be heard.
The court said it was delaying the firing until an appeal could be heard no later than April 8. Netanyahu’s office had said Bar’s dismissal was effective April 10, but that it could come earlier if a replacement was found.
Israel’s attorney general has ruled that the Cabinet has no legal basis to dismiss Bar.
A Shin Bet report into Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack that prompted the war acknowledged failures by the security agency. But it also said policies by the government created the conditions for the attack.
In his comments about Gaza on Friday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said operations there would continue “with increasing intensity until the hostages are released by Hamas.”
“The more Hamas continues its refusal to release the kidnapped, the more territory it will lose to Israel,” Katz said.
The decision to sack Bar deepens a power struggle focused largely on who bears responsibility for the 2023 Hamas attack.
It also could set the stage for a crisis over the country’s division of powers. Israel’s attorney general has ruled that the Cabinet has no legal basis to dismiss Bar.
Critics say the move is a power grab by the prime minister against an independent-minded civil servant, and tens of thousands of Israelis have demonstrated in support of Bar, including outside Netanyahu's residence on Friday.
In addition to its report on the Oct. 7 attack, Netanyahu is also upset that Shin Bet has launched an investigation into connections between some of his close aides and the Gulf state of Qatar. His office said Bar’s dismissal would take effect on April 10 or before then if a replacement is found.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry claims nearly 600 Palestinians have been killed since Israel resumed military operations on Tuesday, shattering a truce that had facilitated the release of more than two dozen hostages and brought relative calm since late January.
Israel has said it would escalate military operations until Hamas releases the 59 hostages it holds — 24 of whom are believed alive — and gives up control of the territory.
The ceasefire agreed to in mid-January was a three-phase plan meant to lead to a long-term cessation of hostilities, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and the return of all hostages taken by Hamas in its terror attack on Israel.
In the first phase of the ceasefire, Hamas returned 25 living hostages and the remains of eight others in exchange for the release of nearly 1,800 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces also withdrew to buffer zones inside Gaza, and hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians returned to northern Gaza.
The ceasefire was supposed to continue as long as talks on the second phase continued. A new ceasefire plan put forth by U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff would have required Hamas to release half its remaining hostages — the terrorist group’s main bargaining chip — in exchange for a ceasefire extension and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Israel made no mention of releasing more Palestinian prisoners — a key component of the first phase.
Netanyahu said he had ordered the resumed strikes on Gaza because of Hamas' rejection of the new proposal.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration reiterated its support for Israel this week, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying, “The president made it very clear to Hamas that if they did not release all of the hostages there would be all hell to pay.”
The war began when Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and abducted 251 hostages. Most of the hostages have been freed in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israeli forces have rescued eight living hostages and recovered the bodies of dozens more.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 49,000 Palestinians, according to claims by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants.
