Israel launches widespread aerial bombardments and attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing at least 591 people, including children.

In the early hours of 18 March 2025, Israel launched a surprise attack on the Gaza Strip, effectively ending the 2025 Gaza war ceasefire. Israel's missile and artillery attack killed more than 400 Palestinians, including 263 women and children according to the Gaza Health Ministry, making it one of the deadliest in the Gaza war. Codenamed Operation Might and Sword by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), it was carried out in coordination with the United States. The next day, the Israeli military announced that it was conducting a ground offensive to retake the Netzarim Corridor, from which it had withdrawn in February.

The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Inhabited by mostly Palestinian refugees and their descendants, Gaza is one of the most densely populated territories in the world. An end of 2024 estimate puts the population of the Strip at 2.1 million, which was a 6% decline from the previous year due to the Gaza war. Gaza is bordered by Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the east and north. Its capital and largest city is Gaza City.

March 18 is the 77th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 288 days remain until the end of the year.