Israeli Troops Are Back in Gaza

Israel said Wednesday it launched a "limited ground operation" in northern Gaza to retake part of a corridor that bisects the territory, and the country's defense minister warned that the army plans to step up the attacks that shattered a two-month ceasefire "with an intensity that you have not seen." The military said it had retaken part of the Netzarim corridor, which bisects northern Gaza from the south and from where it had withdrawn as part of the ceasefire with Hamas that began in January, the AP reports.

• Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Palestinians in Gaza that the army would again order evacuations from combat zones soon, and that its attacks against Hamas would become more fierce if dozens of hostages held for more than 17 months weren't freed.

• There have been no reports of rocket fire or other Palestinian militant attacks since Israel unleashed airstrikes early Tuesday, ending a ceasefire with Hamas that took hold in January. The Israeli bombardment continued into Wednesday, though at a lower intensity. The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 436 people, including 183 children and 94 women, have been killed since Israel launched the strikes early Tuesday. It said another 678 people have been wounded.
• The Israeli military said in a statement that as part of the new offensive, it struck dozens of militants and militant sites on Wednesday, including the command center of a Hamas battalion.
• As Israel continued its airstrikes on Gaza Wednesday, the United Nations said an international UN staffer was killed and five others were wounded in a strike Wednesday on a UN guesthouse in Gaza. Jorge Moreira da Silva, head of the UN Office for Project Services, declined to say who carried out the strike in the central city of Deir al-Balah but said the explosive ordnance was "dropped or fired" and the blast was not accidental or related to de-mining activity. He did not provide the nationalities of those killed and wounded.

(More Israel-Hamas war stories.)