Israel vows to capture Gaza’s “big area” as the re-war with Hamas kills hundreds of Palestinians

Jerusalem Defense Minister Katz said in a written statement on Wednesday that Israel’s new military offensive in the Gaza Strip “is expanding to crush and clean militants” and seized on a large area that would “add it to the security zone of the Israeli State.” The Israeli government has long maintained a buffer zone in Gaza along its security fence. War with Hamas The terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023 inspired these groups.

Israel said its security requires a buffer zone, but Palestinians view it as a snatch of land, further reducing the narrow coastal areas, home to about 2 million people.

Kaz did not specify which areas in the Gaza region will be detained in the expanded operation, which he said included “widespread evacuation” of the population from combat areas. His statement came after the Israeli military ordered all civilians to evacuate the southern city of Rafa and nearby areas – an order about two weeks after Israel abandoned a ceasefire led by the United States, Qatar and Egypt and resumed bombing of the Palestinian territory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s goal is to maintain open but unspecified security controls on the Gaza Strip once the goal of crushing Hamas is achieved.

“The only way to end the war”?

Kaz called on Gaza residents to “execute Hamas and return all hostages”. Hamas, a designated terrorist group in the United States and Israel, still holds 59 prisoners, 24 of whom remain alive, and the majority of the rest are released in a ceasefire or other transactions.

“This is the only way to end the war,” Katz said.

The Hostage Family Forum represents the majority of the captured families and has long fought for a deal to end the war and bring their loved ones home, but disagreed with the assessment. The forum issued a statement saying the families “wake up this morning and the Defense Minister announced an expansion of military operations in Gaza.”

The group said the Israeli government “has an obligation to free all 59 hostages from Hamas captivity to pursue all possible channels to advance its release agreement,” stressing that each day puts the lives of loved ones at greater risk.

“As more and more lives Disturbing details continue to emerge About the horrible conditions they are in – being bound, abused and desperately needed medical care. “The forum called on the Trump administration and other mediators to continue to put pressure on Hamas to release the hostages.

“Our highest priority must be an immediate agreement to bring all hostages home – a life of recovery and those who have been killed for proper burial – and end this war,” the group said.

Death and displacement in Gaza 16 days after Israel resumes war

Hospital officials said Israel continued to target the Gaza Strip 16 days after giving up the ceasefire, killing 17 people overnight in the southern city of Khan Younis. Officials at Nasser Hospital said the bodies of 12 people killed overnight who were taken to the hospital include five women, one of whom is pregnant and two children. Officials at the European Hospital in Gaza said they received five bodies in two separate air strikes.

The war was triggered by a terrorist attack led by Hamas on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and another 251 were deemed hostages to return to Gaza.

According to Gaza-ruled Hamas-run Ministry of Health, Israel killed 50,400 Palestinians, including at least 1,066 people, and killed 1,066 people since the collapse of the ceasefire on March 18.

Israel claims to have killed about 20,000 militants in Gaza, but has not provided evidence yet.

As of March 23, more than 140,000 people have been displaced since the end of the ceasefire – an estimated tens of thousands of people have fled the evacuation order in the past week, according to the latest UN estimates. Every time a family moves during the war, they have to throw away their belongings, almost starting from scratch, finding food, water and shelter. Now, due to Israel’s blockade, no fuel is in and transportation is even more difficult, many people have barely escaped.

“With every displacement, we suffer a thousand times,” said Ihab Suliman, a former university professor, who said he had to escape eight times in the war with the family.

Hanadi Dahoud fled Rafah from Rafah on Monday said she was working to find essentials.

“Where are we going?” she said. “We just want to live. We’re tired. There’s a long queue for bread and charity kitchens.”

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday that numerous UN humanitarian aid agencies were “at the end of our supplies”, forcing the World Food Programme to close all 25 bakeries in Gaza due to a lack of flour and cooking fuel.

“WFP hasn’t had the pleasure of closing bakeries,” Dujarik said, adding that the food situation remains “very critical” as Israel closed all intersections to Gaza a month ago, delivering almost all humanitarians into the enclave.

Kogat, an Israeli military agency responsible for civilian affairs in the Palestinian territory, said on Tuesday that nearly 450,000 tons of aid entered Gaza during the ceasefire. Cogat claims that at least some aid from the United Nations and its humanitarian partners is being transferred to Hamas.

Dujarric rejected this: “The United Nations retains a hold and a good custody in all aid.”