4 days Ago By Cristina Mas
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced Wednesday the intensification of attacks in the Gaza Strip and the expansion of the ground offensive. The army has ordered mass evacuations of civilians to militarily occupy entire areas of the Strip and turn them into "security zones," including the southern city of Rafah, where the operation is underway. In the far north of the Strip, in the towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia, the army has also ordered civilians to leave.
According to health sources, Israeli troops have killed 21 Palestinians since dawn. In Rafah, dozens of families are trapped in two neighborhoods by the advance of Israeli troops, according to Al Jazeera reports. In a bombing of a house in the southern town of Khan Younis, at least 12 Palestinians were killed.
Israeli aircraft also bombed two areas south of Gaza City. Israel has intensified its attacks after unilaterally breaking the ceasefire with Hamas on March 18, a two-month pause in nearly a year and a half of offensive that led international courts to prosecute the state for the crime of genocide and Netanyahu as a war criminal. According to authorities in the Gaza Strip, under Hamas control, more than 50,000 deaths have already been reported, the majority of them children, women, and the elderly.
The forum representing the families of the Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza—59 in total, of whom around thirty are believed to be still alive—has issued a statement declaring themselves "horrified" by the attack and wondering if "a decision has been made to sacrifice them." "Instead of securing the release of the hostages through an agreement and ending the war, the Israeli government is sending more soldiers to Gaza to fight in the same areas where fighting has already taken place several times," they warn, saying they are deeply concerned by the realization that the release of the hostages "is at the bottom of the list of priorities..
