Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said that the Israeli military’s offensive in Gaza looks to seize “large areas” after “crushing and cleaning” the militants’ area.
Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, on Wednesday said that the Israeli military’s offensive in the Gaza Strip is expanding to seize “large areas” as he added that the military operation in the Palestinian territory aims “to crush and clean the area” of militants and “seize large areas” that will be added to the security zones of the State of Israel”. However, Katz didn’t specify which areas of Gaza would be seized in the expanded operation, which he said includes the “extensive evacuation” of the population from fighting areas.
Israel asks Gaza residents to expel Hamas
His statement came after Israel ordered the full evacuation of the southern city of Rafah and nearby areas. The minister called on Gaza residents to “expel Hamas and return all hostages.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underscored that Israel aims to maintain an open-ended but unspecified security control of the Gaza Strip once it achieves its aim of crushing Hamas.
”The militant group still holds 59 captives, of whom 24 are believed to still be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. “This is the only way to end the war,” Katz said.
The Israeli government has long maintained a buffer zone just inside Gaza along its security fence and has greatly expanded since the war began in 2023. Israel says the buffer zone is needed for its security, while Palestinians view it as a land grab that further shrinks the narrow coastal territory, home to around 2 million people.
Israel continues to target Gaza strip
Israel continued to target the Gaza Strip, with airstrikes overnight killing 17 people in the southern city of Khan Younis, hospital officials said.
Officials at the Nasser Hospital said the bodies of 12 people killed in an overnight airstrike that were brought to the hospital included five women, one of them pregnant, and two children. Officials at the Gaza European Hospital said they received five bodies of people killed in two separate airstrikes.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.
(With inputs from AP)
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