Israel announced a significant escalation of its military operations in Gaza on Wednesday, indicating that extensive portions of the territory would be captured and incorporated into its security zones, alongside large-scale population evacuations.
In a statement, Defence Minister Israel Katz mentioned that evacuations would occur in areas experiencing conflict, while urging the people of Gaza to dismantle Hamas and return Israeli hostages as the sole means to conclude the war.
He emphasized that the operation aims to eliminate militants and their infrastructure, stating, “and seize large areas that will be added to the security zones of the State of Israel.” The Israeli military has already issued evacuation notices to residents in the vicinity of the southern city of Rafah and towards Khan Younis, instructing them to relocate to the Al-Mawasi area along the coast, which has been previously designated as a humanitarian zone.
According to Israel’s Army Radio, the 36th division, which was deployed to the Southern Command area last month in preparation for operations in Gaza, will participate in this operation, following a series of strikes reported overnight.
The Palestinian civil defense agency reported that its teams had recovered at least 12 bodies in Khan Younis, while Palestinian radio indicated that the area surrounding Rafah was nearly deserted after the evacuation orders were issued. Katz’s statement did not clarify the extent of land Israel plans to seize or whether this action would lead to a permanent annexation of territory, which would further strain a population in Gaza already enduring some of the highest population densities in the world.
As per the Israeli rights organization Gisha, Israel has already gained control of approximately 62 square kilometers, or about 17% of Gaza’s total area, as part of a buffer zone established around the enclave’s periphery.
Taking control of the buffer zone, which includes essential infrastructure such as wells, sewage pumping stations, and wastewater treatment facilities, as well as a large portion of Gaza’s agricultural land, would further strain the enclave’s capacity for self-sustainability. Concurrently, Israeli officials have expressed intentions to support the voluntary relocation of Palestinians from the area, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion for its permanent evacuation and transformation into a coastal resort under American oversight.
Katz’s comments followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s renewed demands for Hamas to disarm, asserting that military pressure is the most effective means to secure the release of the remaining 59 hostages. Israeli leaders have found encouragement in the emergence of protests in Gaza against Hamas, the militant organization that has governed the region since 2007, and the intensified military operation seems partially designed to amplify civilian pressure on Hamas’s leadership.
“I urge the people of Gaza to take immediate action to dismantle Hamas and secure the return of all hostages,” Katz stated, emphasizing that the operation aims to eradicate militants and their infrastructure from the area. “This is the sole path to ending the conflict,” he added.
WAR ESCALATES
Israel resumed airstrikes on Gaza last month and redeployed ground troops after a two-month period of relative tranquility, which followed a U.S.-backed ceasefire that facilitated the exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody.
Since the resumption of military strikes, hundreds of Palestinians have lost their lives, and Israel has halted aid to the Gaza Strip, claiming that much of the incoming supplies were appropriated by Hamas for its own members. Efforts by Qatari and Egyptian mediators to revive negotiations aimed at ending the conflict have yet to yield any significant progress, and the military’s renewed operations in Gaza have sparked protests in Israel from families and supporters of the hostages.
On Wednesday, the Hostage Families’ Forum, representing the relatives of some hostages, expressed its “horror” at the news of the expanded military operation, emphasizing that Israel’s primary focus should be the safe return of the hostages. As the situation in Gaza intensifies, Israel has also targeted locations in southern Lebanon and Syria, including a strike on a Hezbollah commander in southern Beirut on Tuesday, which has further strained the fragile ceasefire agreements that had largely halted hostilities since January.
Moreover, Israeli forces continue to conduct a significant operation in the occupied West Bank, which the military claims is aimed at dismantling Iranian-backed militant groups within the region’s refugee camps. Israel launched its invasion of Gaza in response to a devastating attack by Hamas-led gunmen on southern Israeli communities, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 individuals, according to Israeli sources, and the abduction of 251 hostages taken into Gaza. The ongoing Israeli campaign has reportedly resulted in over 50,000 Palestinian deaths, as per Palestinian health officials, and has devastated the Gaza Strip, displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million and leaving hundreds of thousands living in tents and makeshift shelters.
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