Israel announced on Wednesday a major expansion of military operations in Gaza, saying that large areas of the enclave would be entered and added to its safety zones, accompanied by a large -scale evacuation of the population.
Israeli leaders have been encouraged by signs of protest in Gaza against Hamas, the militant group that controlled the enclave since 2007, and the enlarged operation seemed at least partly aimed at increasing civil pressure on its leaders.
In a statement, the Minister of Defense Israel Katz said that the evacuation would occur in areas where there are fights, while urging Gazans to eliminate Hamas and return Israeli hostages as the only way to end the war.
The Israeli army had already expressed warnings of evacuation to the Gazans living in the southern city of Rafah and to the city of Khan Younis, telling them to move to the Al-Mawasi region on the shore, previously designated a humanitarian zone.
The radio of the army of Israel said that the 36th division, sent to the Southern Command area last month to prepare for operations in Gaza, would participate in the operation.
Katz’s declaration did not specify the amount of land that Israel intends to grasp.
Israeli forces have already set up a large buffer zone in Gaza, expanding an area that existed around the edges of the enclave before the war and adding a large safety area in the so-called Netzarim corridor in the middle of Gaza.
At the same time, Israeli leaders said they were planning to facilitate the voluntary departure of the Enclave Palestinians, after US President Donald Trump called to be permanently evacuated and refurbished as a coastal complex under American control.
Katz’s remarks occurred after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated the calls to Hamas to disarm and said that the application of military pressure was the best way to recover the remaining 59 hostages.
“I call the Gaza residents to act now to eliminate Hamas and return all the kidnapped,” Katz said in his statement, who added that the operation would erase the militant area and their infrastructure.
“It’s the only way to end war,” Katz said.
War extends
Israel resumed the air strikes in Gaza last month and returned the troops to the ground, after two months of calm relating to the continuation of a truce supported by the United States to allow the exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed since the resumption of strikes, and Israel has also cut aid to the enclave, saying that a large part of the incoming equipment was taken by Hamas and used for its own members.
The efforts led by Qatari and the Egyptian mediators to get back on the right track have so far failed to progress.
While the operation in Gaza has intensified, Israel has also reached targets in southern Lebanon and Syria, with a strike on a Hezbollah commander in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Tuesday which added pressure to the tapered cease-fire agreements which had largely interrupted the fights in January.
In addition, Israeli troops are still carrying out a major operation in occupied West Bank which, according to the army, aims to destroy militant groups supported by Iran in the region’s refugee camps.
Israel invaded Gaza following the devastating attack against the communities in the south of Israel by thousands of armed men led by Hamas who killed 1,200 people according to Israeli accounts, and saw 251 taken as hostages in Gaza.
The Israeli campaign has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians and ravaged the Gaza Strip, forcing almost the entire population of 2.3 million of their homes, leaving hundreds of thousands of tents and improvised shelters.
