Since the resumption of military operations last month, Israeli forces have drawn out a vast “safety zone” to go deep into Gaza and squeezed more than two million Palestinians into smaller areas of the southern and coastlines.
“Unlike in the past, the IDF has not evacuated the cleaned and confiscated areas,” Katz said in a statement after meeting with the military commander.
“In any temporary or permanent situation in Gaza, just like in Lebanon and Syria, with a buffer between the enemy and the community, the IDF will remain in a safe area.”
In a summary of operations over the past month, the Israeli military said it now controls 30% of the Palestinian territory.
In southern Gaza alone, Israeli forces occupied the border city of Rafa and pushed the inland towards the so-called “Morag Corridor”, which extends from the eastern edge of Gaza to the Mediterranean Sea between Rafa and Khan Yunis. It already has a wide corridor in the central area of Netzarim and extends a buffer zone in the hundreds of metres (codes) inland areas, including the Shejaia area in the eastern part of Gaza City in the northern part. Israel said its troops have killed hundreds of Hamas fighters since March 18, including many senior commanders of Palestinian militants, but the operation has shocked the United Nations and European countries.
More than 400,000 Palestinians have been displaced since the resumption of hostilities on March 18, with Israeli air strikes and bombings killing at least 1,630 people, according to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA.
Medical charity MSF said Gaza has become a “massive grave” and humanitarian groups work to provide assistance. “We have witnessed the destruction and forced displacement of the entire population of Gaza in real time,” Amande Bazerolle, MSF’s emergency coordinator in Gaza, said in a statement.
Katz said that since early March, Israel has blocked the delivery of relief supplies to the territory and he is building infrastructure to allow future distribution through civilian companies, but the lockdown of aid will continue.
He said Israel would develop a plan to allow Gaza people who wish to leave the enclave to do so, although it is unclear which countries are willing to accept large numbers of Palestinians.
Red line
Katz’s comments, duplicating Israel’s demand for Hamas disarming, underscoring the distance between the two sides from any ceasefire agreement, despite efforts by Egyptian mediators to resume efforts to reach a deal.
Hamas repeatedly described the disarmament call as a red line that would not cross and said it had to withdraw from Gaza under any permanent ceasefire.
“Any truce that lacks a real guarantee to stop the war, evacuate with all its might, lift the lockdown and start rebuilding will be a political trap,” Hamas said in a statement Wednesday.
Two Israeli officials said negotiations this week did not improve, despite media reports that a possible armistice could be allowed to allow some of the 59 hostages that still occupy Palestinian prisoners in Gaza.
Israeli officials say the increase in military pressure will force Hamas to release hostages, but the government faces large demonstrations from Israeli protesters demanding a deal to stop the fight and retrieve the fight.
According to the Israeli Soors, Israel launched a war in the October 2023 attack on Israeli attacks on Israel, killing 1,200 people and seeing 251 hostages.
According to local health authorities, the offensive killed at least 51,000 Palestinians and destroyed coastal areas, forcing most of the population to move multiple times and reducing rubble.
Palestinian medical authorities said on Wednesday that an air strike killed 10 people, including well-known writers and photographers, including those who documented the war. They said three people were killed in the north when strikes on another house.
Gaza Hamas – The health ministry that operates said Israel suspended entry into fuel, medical and food supplies has begun to hinder the work of the few remaining jobs in hospitals and medical supplies are dry.
“Hundreds of patients and injured people have been deprived of essential medicines and their pain is worsening due to the closure of crossings,” the ministry said.
