Cnn
–
Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz announced on Wednesday a major expansion of the military operation in Gaza involving the seizure of large areas of land that would be “incorporated into Israeli security zones”.
In the press release, Katz said that the operation would also imply a “large -scale evacuation of the Gaza population from combat areas”, without specifying the details.
The signs of the expansion of the operation have not yet been seen on the ground, although the enclave has seen heavy air strikes which have so far killed dozens of people in the last 24 hours, according to local authorities, including at least nine children when a United Nations shelter has been affected.
According to the Declaration of the Minister of Defense, the military operation will extend to “crush and erase the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure, while entering large areas which will be incorporated into the Israel security zone”.
The Israeli army spokesman for the Arab media, ordered Gaza residents on Tuesday in the southern region of Rafah to leave their homes and move north.
Last month, an Israeli official and a second familiar source with the case told CNN that Israel made plans for a major offensive on potential ground in Gaza which would involve sending tens of thousands of troops to fights to erase and occupy large bands of the enclave.
Katz’s Declaration on Wednesday did not specify whether additional Israeli troops would be involved in the extended operation.
The announcement comes when Israel continued its air bombardment on the band. At least 17 people were killed in Israeli strikes overnight in southern Gaza, local hospitals said.
Among the people killed, at least 13 people – including women and children – had sheltered in a residential house after being moved from the Rafah region, according to Nasser Hospital. According to Al Awda Hospital, two others were killed in a separate strike in the center of Gaza.
Also on Wednesday, the Civil Defense of Gaza said that 19 bodies, including those of nine children, had been recovered following an Israeli air strike in a UNRWA clinic which acted as a refuge for people displaced in the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza.
The FDI said that it had “attacked the terrorists of the Hamas terrorist organization” there, adding that “before the attack, many measures have been taken to reduce the chances of harming civilians”. The FDI did not say if the site he had attacked was a refuge of UNRWA, but the UN said that one of its facilities had been affected.
Katz’s announcement also comes after thousands of Palestinians last week protested Hamas and the War of Israel in Gaza. Sulweed by the demonstrations, the Minister of Defense called Gazans to descend into the streets, saying that Hamas “endangers” the lives of the Palestinians in the enclave.
He said the Israeli army would soon operate “forcefully in additional areas in Gaza” and urged Palestinians to withdraw Hamas from power and release all Israeli hostages.
“This is the only way to stop war,” he said.
Israel resumed his offensive on Gaza two weeks ago, breaking a two-month ceasefire with Hamas, weeks after imposing a complete blockade of humanitarian aid entering the enclave. He warned that his forces maintain a permanent presence in certain parts of Gaza to the release of the 24 remaining hostages which would still be alive.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in the enclave since then and the UN has warned that food supplies are exhausted.
Local authorities and the United Nations have said that all Gaza bakeries have closed due to a serious lack of fuel and flour. The closures are likely to accelerate the propagation of famine in the strip, said Abdel Nasser Al-Ajrami, the head of the association of local bakery owners, Abdel Nasser Al-Ajrami at the Palestinian press agency SAFA.
The Israeli army, led by its new more aggressive chief of staff, Lieutenant-General Eyal Zamir, has been developing plans for a large-scale operation in Gaza for weeks now. Such a decision could see the Israeli army occupying the territory and fighting insurrections for years.
But a longer -term offensive in Gaza could also draw strong resistance from the Israeli public, the majority of which claimed a hostage release agreement instead of a return to war.
The Israeli hostage families forum said on Wednesday that they were “horrified to wake up” to the news of the military operation.
“Instead of obtaining the release of the hostages by an agreement and putting an end to the war, the Israeli government sends more soldiers to Gaza to fight in the same places they have fought many times,” the forum said in a statement.
Egypt and Qatar have intensified efforts to relaunch the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in recent days-the militant group accepting a new Egyptian proposal on Sunday, and Israel responding with a counter-proposition on Monday.
Egypt’s proposal would see Hamas freeing five hostages, including the American-Israeli Edan Alexander, in exchange for a renewed ceasefire, a source of Hamas told CNN. It is similar to the proposal presented several weeks ago by the American special envoy Steve Witkoff, although it is not clear if it also includes the release of additional deceased hostages.
This story has been updated with additional information.