ISRAEL’S defence minister said today that he has ordered ground forces to advance deeper into the Gaza Strip, vowing to hold more land until 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 on Thursday toward the northern town of Beit Lahiya and the southern border city of Rafah. 

The military said that it had resumed enforcing a blockade on northern Gaza, including Gaza City.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was dealt a setback in his attempt to fire the country’s domestic security chief. 

Hours after Mr 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 that it was delaying the firing until an appeal could be heard no later than April 8. 

Israel’s attorney general has also ruled that the Cabinet has no legal basis to dismiss Mr Bar.

A Shin Bet report into Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack acknowledged failures by the security agency. 

Defence Minister Israel Katz said that 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,” Mr Katz said.

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 Mr Bar, including outside Mr Netanyahu’s residence.

Shin Bet has also launched an investigation into connections between some of the prime minister’s close aides and the Gulf state of Qatar. 

Nearly 600 Palestinians have been killed since Israel, on Tuesday, shattered a truce that had facilitated the release of more than two dozen hostages and brought relative calm to Gaza — though not the West Bank — since late January.

Israel had already cut off the supply of food, fuel and humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The ceasefire was supposed to continue as long as talks on the second phase continued, but instead Mr Netanyahu tried to force Hamas to accept a new ceasefire plan put forth by US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.

That plan would have required Hamas to release half its remaining hostages in exchange for a ceasefire extension and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. 

Hamas says that it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as called for in the original ceasefire agreement.