Israel to seize more of Gaza if Hamas keeps refusing to free hostages, says defence minister

Israel will take more territory in Gaza and fight until Hamas is wiped out if the Palestinian resistance movement keeps refusing to free remaining hostages, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday. According to Reuters, Katz spoke as mediators continued efforts to salvage Gaza’s ceasefire deal shattered by Israel’s renewal of its air and ground offensive on 18 March.

The occupation state failed to move to the second phase of the ceasefire agreement and insisted instead on an extension of the first phase. The second phase, as agreed with Hamas earlier this year, would have seen Israeli troops leave Gaza and an end to the fighting, as well as the return of all hostages. Hamas insisted on sticking to the three-phase agreement, but Israel refused.

The Israeli military said last week that its forces had begun a focused ground operation in the central and southern Gaza Strip after it resumed bombardments in the besieged enclave that have killed hundreds of Palestinians in a matter of days.

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The total number of recorded Palestinian casualties since 7 October 2023 stands at 50,021 killed and more than 113,000 wounded. An estimated 11,000 are still missing, presumed dead, under the rubble of their homes and other civilian infrastructure destroyed by Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the objective of the new campaign is to force the resistance groups to release remaining hostages.

The latest offensive has been among the deadliest since the conflict began 17 months ago, splintering a shaky ceasefire that had largely prevailed since it went into effect on 19 January. Israel had, however, violated the ceasefire agreement by blocking all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza since the beginning of March.

READ: Gaza: 15,613 children killed by Israel since 7 October 2023