ISRAEL expanded its ground aggression in the besieged Gaza Strip yesterday, with its minister of military affairs Israel Katz announcing plans to ‘capture extensive territory’ to establish what he claimed to be new security zones.
On Monday, the Israeli military ordered all residents of Rafah in southern Gaza to leave and on Tuesday, it expanded the forced displacement notices to Beit Hanoon, Beit Lahiya and nearby areas in the north of the territory.
According to The Times of Israel, the military has deployed its 36th Division to Gaza for the expanded onslaught, with troops entering the strip early on Wednesday morning.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants Hamas to release the 59 Israeli captives remaining in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails, but without committing to ending the war and withdrawing troops from the besieged territory.
Families of Israeli captives issued a statement on Wednesday declaring that they ‘were horrified to wake up this morning’ to the announcement that the onslaught in Gaza would be expanded for ‘capturing extensive territory’.
‘Has it been decided to sacrifice the captives for the sake of “territorial gains”?’ the families asked in a joint statement.
They said instead of securing the release of the captives through a deal and ending the war, the Israeli regime ‘is sending more soldiers into Gaza to fight in the same areas where battles have already taken place repeatedly’.
Hamas recently accepted an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire proposal, agreeing to release five living Israeli captives, including a US-Israeli citizen, along with the bodies of several deceased captives, in exchange for a 50-day pause in hostilities.
However, Israel rejected the offer and presented its own counterproposal. Shortly afterwards, Netanyahu declared that Israel was entering the ‘final stage’ of the war.
The Israeli occupation army committed a number of massacres on Wednesday, killing at least 50 civilians and injuring many others, mostly children.
An Israeli strike targeted in the morning an UNRWA infirmary sheltering displaced families in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, killing at least 19 people, including nine children, and injuring others.
At dawn, an Israeli strike targeted a house belonging to the family of Abdul-Bari in central Khan Younis, south of Gaza, killing at least 12 civilians and injuring several others.
The Israeli army also bombed a tent in al-Mawasi area in Rafah, south of Gaza, killing a civilian and injuring others.
Two other citizens were martyred in an Israeli attack in al-Miraj area, north of Rafah.
A girl child was pronounced dead after she succumbed to serious injuries she sustained when the Israeli army bombed a tent in Asdaa City in the northwest of Khan Younis.
An Israeli drone also targeted a tent sheltering a displaced family in the west of Deir al-Balah City in central Gaza, killing one civilian and injuring others.
