Israel minister says Gaza offensive expands, will seize 'large areas'

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced Wednesday a major expansion of a military operation in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, saying the army would seize “large areas” of the Palestinian territory.

The defence chief said in a statement that Israel would expand its presence in Gaza to “destroy and clear the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure”.

The expanded operation would “seize large areas that will be incorporated into Israeli security zones”, he said, without saying how much territory Israel would take.

The announcement comes after he warned last week the military would soon “operate with full force” in additional parts of Hamas-run Gaza.

Israel restarted intense bombing of Gaza on March 18 and then launched a new ground offensive, ending a nearly two-month ceasefire in the war with Hamas.

The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 50,357 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry.