Jerusalem, March 23 : Israel Railways has announced that train services near the Gaza border will resume on early Sunday morning.

It suspended train traffic between Ashkelon and Sderot stations on Tuesday and offered alternative shuttle services between the two cities, following Israel's renewed, deadly and large-scale airstrikes across Gaza, Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

The section is part of the line linking Ashkelon, north of the Gaza Strip, to Beer Sheva in the northern Negev.

The route also connects Sderot and other western Negev communities with central Israel.

Train services between Ashkelon and Sderot had been previously halted for security reasons after the Israel-Hamas war erupted on October 7, 2023. They resumed last month after the fighting subsided.

Earlier, the Israeli army banned traffic on Thursday on Gaza's main north-to-south artery, a day after announcing renewed ground operations in the Palestinian territory.

"Over the past 24 hours, IDF soldiers have begun a targeted ground operation in the central and southern Gaza Strip to expand the security zone between the northern and southern parts," army spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.

Movement along Salaheddin Road between the north and south of the Gaza Strip is prohibited "for your safety", he said.

"Instead, travel from northern Gaza to the south is possible via the Al-Rashid coastal road," Adraee added, without spelling out whether that meant movement from south to north was banned.

An official from Gaza's Hamas-run Interior Ministry said the Israeli army had closed what it calls Netzarim Junction, on Salaheddin Road just south of Gaza City, on Wednesday evening.

The official said that Israeli tanks had deployed at the junction, where the road artery crosses Israel's main supply route, "following the withdrawal of American special security forces yesterday (Wednesday) morning".

He was referring to American private security contractors deployed in February after the pullback of Israeli forces under the terms of a January 19 ceasefire.

Israel resumed strikes in Gaza on Tuesday, effectively ending a ceasefire with Hamas that began on January 19.

Israeli forces subsequently launched ground operations across southern, northern, and central Gaza.

In response, Hamas made several rocket launches targeting Israeli territory, most of which Israel said have been intercepted.

/IANS