Israel Launches Offensive in Southern Gaza, Encircles Rafah Neighborhood Amid Escalating Regional Conflict
On March 23, 2025, the Israeli military initiated a ground offensive in Rafah, Gaza, escalating violence after breaking the ceasefire with Hamas. The conflict has resulted in over 50,000 Palestinian deaths since October 7, 2023. Humanitarian conditions worsen as civilians flee, facing dire shortages, while regional tensions rise with strikes in Lebanon and Yemen.
hassan benyoub 
Rafah, Gaza Strip, March 23, 2025, 9:00 AM PDT – The Israeli military launched a ground offensive in Rafah, southern Gaza, on Sunday, encircling the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood, while continuing operations in the north, five days after breaking a ceasefire with Hamas. The renewed military campaign, which has killed 673 Palestinians since Tuesday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, coincides with deadly strikes in Lebanon against Hezbollah and a Houthi missile attack from Yemen targeting Israel, as reported by Reuters and shared on X by @IDF.
Offensive in Rafah and Northern Gaza
On Sunday, the Israeli army dropped leaflets via drones over Tel al-Sultan, ordering residents to evacuate as it launched “an offensive to strike terrorist organizations,” per AFP correspondents in Gaza. Later, the military announced it had “completed the encirclement” of the area, a tactic previously used during its spring 2024 Rafah offensive, which displaced hundreds of thousands, as noted in The Times of Israel. In northern Gaza, operations in Beit Hanoun involved airstrikes on Hamas targets, with fighter jets hitting multiple sites, per @IDF on X.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported a total of 50,021 deaths since the war began on October 7, 2023, following Hamas’s attack that killed 1,218 Israelis, mostly civilians, per AFP. Gaza’s Civil Defense also cited over 50,000 deaths, figures deemed reliable by the UN but unverified by AFP. The latest offensive aims to pressure Hamas into releasing 58 remaining hostages, after a January 19 ceasefire collapsed on March 18, per Al Jazeera.
Humanitarian Crisis Deepens
The renewed violence has forced thousands of Gazans to flee again, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis. Israel halted humanitarian aid on March 2 and cut electricity to Gaza’s main desalination plant, leaving 2.4 million residents in catastrophic conditions, per UNICEF’s March 2025 update on X. In Khan Younes, displaced resident Saed Abou al-Jidyan told AFP, “I came looking for rice for the kids, but there’s none, and I’m returning empty-handed.” Iman al-Bardawil, another displaced woman, added, “It’s Ramadan, a blessed month, and people come here out of necessity.”
Pope Francis demanded an “immediate end” to the strikes on Sunday, ahead of a visit by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas to Israel and the Palestinian territories, per Vatican News. Posts on X, like @UNRWA’s, highlight the plight of displaced families fleeing amid rubble, carrying meager possessions.
Regional Escalation: Lebanon and Yemen
Israel’s operations extend beyond Gaza, with Saturday strikes in Lebanon killing eight, followed by a Sunday strike in the south that killed one, per Lebanese authorities cited by Reuters. The violence, the worst since a November 27 ceasefire with Hezbollah, Hamas’s Iran-backed ally, risks reigniting a broader conflict, per The New York Times. In Yemen, the Houthis, also Iran-supported, claimed a missile strike on Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, which Israel intercepted, per @HouthiMedia on X. The Houthis reported 53 deaths from U.S. strikes on Yemen since March 15, per Al-Masirah TV.
Hamas Leadership Targeted
Overnight, an Israeli strike in Khan Younes killed Salah al-Bardawil, a senior Hamas political bureau member, and his wife, the third such official killed since the ceasefire broke, per Hamas’s statement on Telegram, reposted on X by @HamasInfo. Israel’s strategy of targeting Hamas leaders aims to weaken the group, which has controlled Gaza since 2007, as noted in a 2025 Carnegie Endowment analysis on the conflict.
