Israel Katz warned that “large areas” of the enclave would be seized and added to military-controlled security zones, suggesting that the country intended to hold on to more territory.
Israel’s defense minister announced on Wednesday an expansion of its military offensive in Gaza, including plans to seize “large areas” of the enclave, an apparent attempt to pile more pressure on Hamas as efforts to restore a shattered cease-fire falter.
The remarks, which echoed a similar threat by the minister, Israel Katz, last month, suggest that Israel intends to hold captured territory, at least temporarily, in a shift from earlier tactics. In the 15-month military campaign that preceded the January truce, Israeli forces stormed Gazan cities before withdrawing, leaving behind vast destruction but allowing Palestinian militants to regroup in the rubble.
Mr. Katz said newly captured territory would be “added to the security zones” that the military currently maintains in Gaza, which include a buffer along the enclave’s borders with Egypt and Israel, and much of a key road in the center of the enclave.
He added that the expanding operation involved “wide-scale evacuations of Gaza’s population from combat zones.”
He did not elaborate as to how much territory he hoped to capture or for how long. Since the cease-fire collapsed in late March, Israeli forces have been advancing deeper into the Gaza Strip, including in the southern city of Rafah, though they have not been sweeping through Palestinian cities as they did before the truce. Both sides have been speaking to mediators about a potential deal to restore the truce — so far without success.
It is far from clear whether either side could force the other to accept its terms for an agreement through military means. Hamas is demanding an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal in exchange for the release of all hostages.