Israel's military will expand operations and seize 'large areas' of Gaza, defense minister says
Israel’s military “will seize large areas” of the Gaza Strip to expand its security zones, its defense minister said Wednesday as he called for a large-scale evacuation of the Palestinian enclave's population. “Operation ‘Might and Sword’ in Gaza is expanding,” Israel Katz said in a statement. He went on to call on the residents of Gaza to “eliminate Hamas” to ensure the return of the remaining hostages held by the militant group.In a statement later Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the shift in strategy set to begin “tonight,” saying the Israel Defense Forces is “seizing territory, striking terrorists, destroying infrastructure.” It would also take over a new border area he referred to as the “Morag Axis,” similar to the Philadelphi corridor, to further isolate the enclave.The Israeli military has renewed its offensive in Gaza in recent weeks by expanding in the south and adding a large security area in the Netzarim corridor that cuts through the middle of the strip.Katz’s announcement came after officials at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis told The Associated Press on Wednesday that 17 people had been killed overnight in Israeli airstrikes.The Israel Defense Forces also issued sweeping evacuation orders to residents of Rafah on Monday, directing them to head north to the al-Mawasi tent encampment. The camp was previously designated as a safe zone by the Israeli military, although several strikes hit the area.Israeli soldiers stand on a tank at the border with northern Gaza. Amir Levy / Getty ImagesThe Hostages Families Forum Headquarters, a group that represents most of the families of those in Hamas captivity, said it was “horrified” by Katz’s announcement Wednesday, because “military pressure kills living hostages and makes it impossible to recover those who have perished.”“The Israeli government has an obligation to free all 59 hostages from Hamas captivity — to pursue every possible channel to advance a deal for their release,” it said in a statement, which also called on the Trump administration and mediator countries to continue exerting pressure on Hamas.Israel has ramped up its military activity in Gaza since the first phase of a three-part ceasefire deal with Hamas came to an end March 1. Over 42 days, Hamas released 25 living hostages and the bodies of eight in exchange for around 1,800 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including women and children. Negotiations on the second phase of the deal, designed to establish a permanent ceasefire, have since stalled. Israel subsequently blocked the flow of aid and goods into Gaza while carrying out its military operation and hitting the enclave with regular airstrikes. In the 10 days leading up to Monday, at least 322 children have been killed and 609 injured in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations Children’s Fund said Monday. Their deaths added to a toll which health officials in the Hamas-run enclave say has topped more than 50,000 people since Israel’s military campaign in Gaza after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks Oct. 7, 2023. About 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage that day, according to Israeli tallies.Israel’s monthlong aid blockade which came into effect March 2 is the longest since the war began. The aid group Doctors Without Borders called on Israel to “end this inhumane siege” in a post on X on Wednesday, adding that its teams were dressing wounds without painkillers and treating skin conditions with lotion. Destruction from an Israeli strike in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Wednesday.Eyad Baba / AFP - Getty ImagesMeanwhile, the United Nations’ World Food Programme said Tuesday that all of its 25 bakeries in the Gaza Strip had shut down because of the lack of fuel and flour in the territory. “Hot meals are continuing, but supplies will last two weeks maximum,” the WFP said in a post on X, adding that it would distribute its last food parcels in the next two days.COGAT, the Israeli military agency, refuted this in a post on X on Tuesday, saying that some 25,200 trucks had entered Gaza during the truce and that there was “enough food for a long period of time, if Hamas lets the civilians have it.” But U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric on Tuesday dismissed this claim as “ridiculous,” adding that the “WFP doesn’t close its bakeries for fun.” “If there’s no flour, if there’s no cooking gas, the bakeries cannot open,” she added.Astha RajvanshiAstha Rajvanshi is a reporter for NBC News Digital, based in London. Previously, she worked as a staff writer covering international news for TIME.