Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has announced a significant expansion of the military’s operation in Gaza, which includes seizing large areas of land that will be “incorporated into Israel’s security zones.” The operation also involves a large-scale evacuation of Gaza’s population from combat zones.
Heavy airstrikes have been ongoing in Gaza for 24 hours, killing dozens of people, including at least nine children when a UN shelter was hit. The Israeli military has called on residents in Gaza’s southern Rafah area to leave their homes and move north.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a military escalation in Gaza, vowing to increase pressure on the strip until all hostages held there are released. He stated that Israel is seizing the Morag Corridor, which refers to a 14-kilometer strip of land along the border with Egypt.
Netanyahu said that he will not release any hostages unless Hamas gives them up. The Israeli military has been preparing for a large-scale operation in Gaza for weeks, but it’s unclear if additional troops will be involved in the expanded operation.
The announcement comes as Israel continues its aerial bombardment on the strip. At least 17 people were killed in Israeli strikes overnight in southern Gaza, with many of them sheltering in a residential house after being displaced from the Rafah area.
Gaza’s Civil Defense reported that nine children among 19 bodies recovered following an Israeli airstrike on an UNRWA clinic were killed. The IDF said it attacked “terrorists” from Hamas but did not confirm if the site was an UNRWA shelter.
The defense minister’s statement comes after thousands of Palestinians protested against Hamas and Israel’s war in Gaza last week. Katz urged Palestinians to remove Hamas from power and release all Israeli hostages, saying that this is the only way to stop the war.
Israel has been waging a war on Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, following a militant group’s surprise attack on southern Israel that killed over 1,200 people. More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since then.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/02/middleeast/israel-expands-military-operations-gaza-intl-hnk/index.html