Israel is expanding its offensive in Gaza to seize “large areas” of the Strip, the country’s defence minister has said, as he called on Palestinians living in the territory to “expel Hamas and return all hostages”.
Israel Katz said the major expansion of the military operation was to “crush and clean the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure” and seize lands that will be added to what he called the “security zones of the State of Israel".
“This is the only way to end the war,” Mr Katz added, without clarifying how much territory Israel planned to seize. Israel’s security perimeter runs along the border with Israel in northern and eastern Gaza.
Palestinian groups still hold 59 Israelis taken hostage on 7 October 2023, of whom 24 are still believed to be alive, after the majority of the hostages were released in a ceasefire agreement with the Israeli government.
The announcement comes just days after Israel issued sweeping evacuation orders covering most of the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The military ordered Palestinians to head to Muwasi, a sprawl of tent camps along the coast.
Last month, Israel's military announced its 36th Division had been sent to the Southern Command to prepare for operations in Gaza. That division reportedly entered southern Gaza early this morning.
Israel on 18 March resumed intense bombing of Gaza and launched a new ground offensive as a nearly two-month-long ceasefire with Hamas collapsed. At least 21 people were killed overnight in Israel's pre-dawn attacks on homes in Gaza's Khan Yunis and Nuseirat refugee camp.
Israel's 18-month war on Gaza has already turned enclaves, hospitals and schools into rubble.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's offensive on Gaza has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, including hundreds killed in strikes since the ceasefire ended in March, according to the Hamas-run Strip's health ministry. The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 251 hostages.
The Hostage Families Forum, which represents the families of most hostages, said that it was "horrified" by the defence minister's announcement about expanding military operations in Gaza.
The group said the Israeli government "has an obligation to free all 59 hostages from Hamas captivity" and to "pursue every possible channel to advance a deal for their release". It stressed that every "passing day puts their loved ones' lives at greater risk".
"Their lives hang in the balance as more and more disturbing details continue to emerge about the horrific conditions they're being held in – chained, abused, and in desperate need of medical attention," said the forum, which called on the Donald Trump administration in US and other mediators to continue pressuring Hamas to release the hostages.
"Our highest priority must be an immediate deal to bring ALL hostages back home – the living for rehabilitation and those killed for proper burial – and end this war," the group said.
The UK-based charity Plan International condemned Israel's expansion of its offensive in Gaza, calling it “ruthless acts of aggression against a starving and traumatised population”.
"The people of Gaza have no shelter, no means of protecting themselves, and Israel’s illegal blockade has left medics without the supplies they need to treat the wounded. This isn’t war. This is an atrocity," said Kathleen Spencer Chapman, the director of influencing and external affairs at Plan International.
"World leaders must put a stop to this horror. The ceasefire must be reinstated and aid allowed back into and throughout Gaza."
