Israeli operation in Gaza expanding to seize large areas — Defense minister

Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, announced on Wednesday that the country’s renewed military offensive in Gaza is intensifying as forces move to seize more territory.

The operation, he stated, aims to “crush and cleanse the area of ​​terrorists and terrorist infrastructure and seize large areas that will be annexed to the security zones of the state of Israel.”

“I call on the residents of Gaza to act now to eliminate Hamas and return all the kidnapped,” he said. “This is the only way to end the war.”

Israel resumed its military campaign in March after nearly two months of relative calm, during which 33 Israeli hostages were released by Hamas in exchange for approximately 1,800 Palestinian prisoners. 

According to ABC News, the renewed assault came after Hamas rejected an Israeli demand to release half of the remaining hostages, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. He ordered the strikes to continue with “full force” from March 18, declaring that negotiations “will continue only under fire.”

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The conflict has drawn condemnation from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, while Israeli government spokesman David Mencer insisted that the operations were “fully coordinated with Washington.”

Israel has consistently vowed to eliminate Hamas and maintain long-term security control over Gaza. Katz last month introduced a new directorate within the Israeli Ministry of Defense to support the “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians from the enclave. He previously aligned this initiative with U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Palestinians should be resettled outside Gaza.

Palestinian authorities, the United Nations, and human rights groups have condemned the move, calling it a form of “ethnic cleansing,” a charge Israel has rejected.

The war, triggered by Hamas’s October 7 attack that killed approximately 1,200 people in Israel, has left Gaza in devastation. 

According to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health, more than 50,300 Palestinians have been killed and over 114,000 injured. Since the renewed Israeli assault began on March 18, more than 1,000 additional casualties have been reported.

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