Jerusalem (Reuters)-Israel announced a large expansion of military operations in Gaza on Wednesday (02), saying that large areas of the enclave will be taken and added to their safety zones, accompanied by large scale withdrawals of the population.
In a statement, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the withdrawals will take place in areas where there are fighting, while urging the inhabitants of Gaza to eliminate Hamas and to return the Israeli hostages as the only way to.
He said the operation will eliminate militants and infrastructure “and take large areas that will be added to Israel State Security Zones.”
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Base Naim, a senior authority of Hamas, told Reuters that Israeli hostages will only be released through negotiations, not military pressure.
The Israeli military had already issued withdrawals to the inhabitants that they live around the city of Rafah in the south and towards the city of Khan Youis, telling them to move to the Al-Mawasi area on the coast, previously designated as a humanitarian zone.
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The Gaza Ministry of Health reported that 41 people were killed in Israeli attacks on Wednesday, with 19 people, including children, were killed in an attack on a UN clinic used to house displaced people.
According to Palestinian radio, the region around Rafah was almost completely empty after withdrawal orders.
At the scene of an attack on Khan Youis, Rida Al-Jabbour held a shoe and pointed to a bloodstained wall as he counted as a neighbor had been killed with his three-month-old baby.
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“From the moment the attack occurred, we couldn’t sit down, sleep or anything else,” she said, describing how rescue teams could not separate the remains.
Protection zone
Katz’s statement has not made clear the amount of land Israel intends to confiscate or whether the measure represents a permanent annexation of territory, which would further increase the pressure on a population that already lives in one of the most populous areas in the world.
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According to the Israeli Group on Gisha Rights, Israel has already taken over 62 square kilometers, or about 17% of the total Gaza area, as part of a protective zone around the enclave limits.
Taking the protective zone, which contains infrastructure, including wells, sewage pumping stations and wastewater treatment facilities, as well as a significant part of Gaza agricultural lands, will also increase the pressure of the enclave capacity to support itself.
At the same time, Israeli leaders said they planned to facilitate the voluntary exit of the Palestinians of the Enclave after US President Donald Trump asked him to be permanently emptied and rebuilt as a coastal resort under US control.
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(Reportagraem of Lubel in Maeyan Lubel in Ali Sawanafta,
