Israeli forces moved to seize the entirety of a key roadway bisecting the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the Israeli defense minister said, effectively dividing the enclave’s north from its south as thousands of Palestinians continued to flee Israel’s offensive in Gaza City.
The Israeli advance came as Hamas held talks in Qatar with mediators over President Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza. Mr. Trump announced the proposal at a news conference on Monday alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who said he backed it.
If the Palestinian militants do not accept the deal, Mr. Trump said, Israel will have “my full backing to finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas.” And on the ground in Gaza, the fighting has continued.
On Wednesday, Israel Katz, the Israeli defense minister, said Israeli troops were “currently completing the takeover” of the central Netzarim Corridor, the key roadway. He added that doing so would “cut Gaza in two between north and south.”
Hundreds of thousands of Gazans have fled the Israeli assault on Gaza City and crowded into swelling tent camps farther south. But hundreds of thousands more are believed to remain in the northern city, with many saying that they have nowhere left to run to or cannot pay for transport out. Others had fled south only to return to Gaza City after failing to find anywhere suitable to take shelter.
People who chose to remain in the city are now facing their “final opportunity” to flee the Israeli advance, said Mr. Katz, the defense minister. He also suggested that he might consider those who stayed behind to be legitimate targets.
“Those who remain in the city will be terrorists and terrorism supporters,” Mr. Katz said in a statement on social media.
The Israeli military declined to comment. An Israeli official, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the military’s guidelines did not allow for a broad assumption that anyone who remained in Gaza City was a militant.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement on Wednesday that “under international humanitarian law, civilians must be protected whether they stay or leave Gaza City.” The aid group also said it had been forced to suspend its operations in the city because of the “intensification of military operations” there.
The war with Hamas, now nearing its third year, has devastated the Gaza Strip and killed more than 65,000 people, according to Gazan health officials. Their toll does not identify how many were combatants, but it includes thousands of children.
Hamas began the war with a deadly surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 people and led Israel to respond with a massive counterattack. Repeated rounds of negotiations have clinched two short-lived truces but failed to end the conflict.
Many in Gaza hope Hamas will accept Mr. Trump’s plan to end the conflict. But it is far from clear whether Hamas will agree to the framework, which demands the Palestinian group return all the Israeli hostages it holds almost immediately, lay down its arms and effectively end its rule in Gaza.
Under Mr. Trump’s plan, the enclave would be run by a technocratic Palestinian government made up of “qualified Palestinians and international experts” responsible for providing public services. They would be overseen by a “board of peace” chaired by Mr. Trump.
Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem.
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