Israel Launches a New Offensive in Gaza
05:34 Share

Today on State of the World, Israel launches a new offensive in Gaza.

You're listening to State of the World from NPR. We bring you the day's most vital international stories up close where they're happening. It's Wednesday, March 19th. I'm Greg Dixon. The ceasefire that had been in place in Gaza since January has ended. Israel conducted airstrikes in Gaza on Tuesday that killed five Hamas officials. They also killed over 400 other people, including many children. Hundreds more were wounded.

And Israel has launched a new ground offensive in Gaza, sending troops back to areas they had withdrawn from. Israel says it wants Hamas to agree to a ceasefire deal and release more hostages. But many in the Israeli public are opposed to the return to war. Anas Baba is in Gaza City. And along with Ea Betraoui in Dubai, we're going to hear what it's been like in Gaza since the war resumed.

And a warning, this is a report about war and you will hear graphic descriptions of what that is like. It's the middle of the night in Gaza, the ninth week of a ceasefire many hoped would last. Instead, people were jolted awake to the familiar, terrifying sound of Israeli airstrikes. NPR producer Anas Baba in Gaza was one of them. I don't know what's happening, but it seems that war is back. I don't know exactly what is the target. It seems to be close.

The targets, Israel says, were mid-level and senior Hamas officials. Five of them were killed, Hamas said. To reach them, Israeli warplanes struck tents, homes and shelters, killing hundreds of people, more than 60 percent of them women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry. Around 180 of those killed were children. There's so many pediatric trauma cases.

that all the PICU, pediatric ICU beds, are full now. Dr. Tanya Haj Hassan is an American pediatric intensive care physician volunteering in Gaza's Nasser Hospital with the organization Medical Aid for Palestinians. She describes in voice memos losing patients in the ER and the many more taken straight to the morgue. The ER was just chaos, patients everywhere on the floor, injuries.

I mean, there were probably three men and the rest were all children, women, elderly. It was everybody caught in their sleep, still wrapped in their blankets. She describes a six-year-old girl on one of the beds, partially paralyzed with the word Majhul, or unknown, written in black ink on her arm. And the infant she treated, just a few months old, with her pierced ears. She looked perfect on the outside but was pale as a sheet.

She ended up having pretty significant internal bleeding, including some shrapnel penetrating her chest wall and probably has a head injury. I'm told her mom was killed. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the offensive was launched to complete the war's aims of freeing Israeli hostages held in Gaza and destroying Hamas, the group that attacked Israel in 2023.

Protests like this one in Israel are demanding he return to negotiations, saying the war endangers hostages. Israel's blocked food, medical supplies and even fuel from entering Gaza for nearly three weeks. Hamas says Israel's far-right government is now finding excuses to return to war.

Defense Minister Israel Katz says Hamas must understand the rules of the game have changed. And he had this message for the residents of Gaza. What comes next will be much harsher and you will bear the full consequences. Soon the evacuation of the population from combat zones will resume. If all Israeli hostages are not released and Hamas is not removed from Gaza, Israel will act with force beyond anything you've ever seen.

The White House says it was consulted by the Israelis on its attacks. 60-year-old Ismail Zaroub says his daughter's home was among those destroyed in the latest airstrikes. He says to pressure Hamas, they killed 400 people. Why? With what right? He says, where's Trump, who's called for peace? Where's the world? There's no humanity, he says.

A woman stands in the street with her three distraught grandchildren after an airstrike damaged their building. She describes what so many in Gaza have already endured. Umm Saif Al Ghurra says her son was already killed at the start of this war with his wife and kids. And her home was bombed in earlier airstrikes. And now this one is too, destroyed. She says she's been in the streets for a long time.

She says, this is a calamity. We can't take it anymore. Aya Baltrawi, NPR News Dubai, with Anas Baba in Gaza. That's the state of the world from NPR. Thanks for listening.

This message comes from Charles Schwab. When it comes to managing your wealth, Schwab gives you more choices, like full-service wealth management and advice when you need it. You can also invest on your own and trade on Thinkorswim. Visit Schwab.com to learn more.