section_path: Attacks/Ground operations
section_name: Ground operations
paragraph_text: Ground operations
  
  On 18 March, the IDF initiated a "focused ground operation" in central Gaza with the intention of expanding the area of a buffer zone and to re-take the Netzarim Corridor bisecting the Gaza Strip. On 19 March, the IDF announced the operation publicly, and partially recaptured the center of the Netzarim Corridor. The re-capture of the corridor prevented the movement of Palestinians between the northern and southern sections of the Gaza Strip. On 20 March, Israeli forces resumed the Rafah offensive without warning the residents of Rafah.