Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that the army will seize ‘extensive territory’ in Gaza and add it to Tel Aviv’s ‘security areas’ in the strip
Tel Aviv stepped up its violent airstrikes across Gaza on 2 April and killed scores of Palestinians during the early morning hours, coinciding with an expansion of the Israeli army’s ground invasion of the strip.
Israeli warplanes killed at least 15 Palestinians, including nine children, in an air raid targeting an UNRWA clinic in Jabalia Camp, in north Gaza.
Overnight, Israeli jets launched a large wave of airstrikes on southern Gaza, lasting hours. The strikes focused mainly on the southernmost city of Rafah and the city of Khan Yunis, killing and injuring several people, including children.
RT correspondent Said Swerki reported “21 martyrs as a result of a series of raids launched by the occupation forces on Khan Yunis and Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip since dawn today.”
The strikes were a prelude to the expansion of ground operations in southern Gaza. The Israeli occupation forces have deployed another division to the area.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on Wednesday morning that troops are moving to clear areas in south Gaza “of terrorists and infrastructure, and capture extensive territory that will be added to the State of Israel’s security areas.” Since the war resumed, Israeli forces have reoccupied the Netzarim corridor, which they previously withdrew from as part of the ceasefire deal reached in January.
Israel also maintains a presence on the vital Philadelphi corridor that lies along the Gaza–Egypt border.
Katz, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had both previously threatened to seize additional territory in Gaza to pressure Hamas into giving in to Tel Aviv's terms – namely the release of all captives held in the strip and a full disarmament and surrender.
Hamas’s Qassam Brigades has resumed operations targeting Israeli ground forces. Earlier this week, the group said on its media page that it detonated an explosive device near an Israeli tank east of Khan Yunis and shelled the area with mortars.
The Qassam Brigades and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement’s Quds Brigades have targeted the settlements of the Gaza envelope with rocket fire recently, responding to Israel’s resumption of an all-out war on the strip, which has killed over 1,000 Palestinians in a period of two weeks.
Hamas recently accepted a new ceasefire proposal put forward by Egypt, stipulating the release of five living Israeli captives from Gaza, among them US–Israeli citizen Edan Alexander, as well as the release of the bodies of a number of dead captives and a 50-day cessation of hostilities.
Israel rejected the proposal and said it has put forward its own counteroffer. A day later, on Sunday, Netanyahu announced that Tel Aviv is ready for “the final stage” of the war.
“Hamas will lay down its weapons. Its leaders will be allowed to leave. We will see to the general security in the Gaza Strip and will allow the realization of the Trump plan for voluntary migration,” Netanyahu said, referring to US President Donald Trump’s threat to “take” Gaza and forcibly remove Palestinians from their land.
“This is the plan. We are not hiding this and are ready to discuss it at any time … We have an alliance with the greatest superpower in the world," he added.
Hamas continues to push mediators to pressure Israel for a return to the initial ceasefire agreement and prisoner-exchange protocol.
Israeli warplanes killed at least 15 Palestinians, including nine children, in an air raid targeting an UNRWA clinic in Jabalia Camp, in north Gaza.
Overnight, Israeli jets launched a large wave of airstrikes on southern Gaza, lasting hours. The strikes focused mainly on the southernmost city of Rafah and the city of Khan Yunis, killing and injuring several people, including children.
RT correspondent Said Swerki reported “21 martyrs as a result of a series of raids launched by the occupation forces on Khan Yunis and Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip since dawn today.”
The strikes were a prelude to the expansion of ground operations in southern Gaza. The Israeli occupation forces have deployed another division to the area.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on Wednesday morning that troops are moving to clear areas in south Gaza “of terrorists and infrastructure, and capture extensive territory that will be added to the State of Israel’s security areas.” Since the war resumed, Israeli forces have reoccupied the Netzarim corridor, which they previously withdrew from as part of the ceasefire deal reached in January.
Israel also maintains a presence on the vital Philadelphi corridor that lies along the Gaza–Egypt border.
Katz, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had both previously threatened to seize additional territory in Gaza to pressure Hamas into giving in to Tel Aviv's terms – namely the release of all captives held in the strip and a full disarmament and surrender.
Hamas’s Qassam Brigades has resumed operations targeting Israeli ground forces. Earlier this week, the group said on its media page that it detonated an explosive device near an Israeli tank east of Khan Yunis and shelled the area with mortars.
The Qassam Brigades and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement’s Quds Brigades have targeted the settlements of the Gaza envelope with rocket fire recently, responding to Israel’s resumption of an all-out war on the strip, which has killed over 1,000 Palestinians in a period of two weeks.
Hamas recently accepted a new ceasefire proposal put forward by Egypt, stipulating the release of five living Israeli captives from Gaza, among them US–Israeli citizen Edan Alexander, as well as the release of the bodies of a number of dead captives and a 50-day cessation of hostilities.
Israel rejected the proposal and said it has put forward its own counteroffer. A day later, on Sunday, Netanyahu announced that Tel Aviv is ready for “the final stage” of the war.
“Hamas will lay down its weapons. Its leaders will be allowed to leave. We will see to the general security in the Gaza Strip and will allow the realization of the Trump plan for voluntary migration,” Netanyahu said, referring to US President Donald Trump’s threat to “take” Gaza and forcibly remove Palestinians from their land.
“This is the plan. We are not hiding this and are ready to discuss it at any time … We have an alliance with the greatest superpower in the world," he added.
Hamas continues to push mediators to pressure Israel for a return to the initial ceasefire agreement and prisoner-exchange protocol.
They were killed by Israeli forces while trying to save lives,' the UN humanitarian chief stated
The General Directorate of Civil Defense in the Gaza Strip confirmed on 2 April that Israeli forces executed Palestinian first responders and buried them in a mass grave in the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah, southern Gaza, on 23 March.
The General Directorate reported that the bodies of eight from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), six from the Palestinian Civil Defence (PCD), and one UNRWA worker were found eight days later, buried approximately 200 meters from where their vehicles, an ambulance, and a fire engine had also been destroyed.
Some of the bodies were found with their hands bound and with bullet holes visible in their chests and heads. One of the victims had been decapitated, while others had been disfigured and dismembered.
The Directorate said that the executions amount to the “crime of genocide, requiring the free world and international humanitarian and human rights organizations to go beyond mere condemnation, but rather to genuinely intervene and pressure the occupation to implement international humanitarian law.”
It called for the formation of an international commission of inquiry to investigate the crime.
The Directorate added that the Civil Defense and Palestinian Red Crescent members were killed by Israeli forces after responding to calls for help from residents in Tal al-Sultan during an Israeli assault.
Their vehicles were clearly marked with the Civil Defense logo, and their sirens and flashing lights had been activated. The rescuers were wearing their official uniforms, the Directorate confirmed, noting that they arrived in the area approximately an hour and a half before Israeli troops declared it a military zone.
Contact was lost with the rescuers approximately 10 minutes after they arrived at the location.
For the next eight days, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) attempted to coordinate with Israeli military officials to gain access to the area to search for the rescuers. However, the Israeli army repeatedly refused their requests, claiming the area was a closed military zone.
On Sunday, the UN also said Israel had killed the rescuers.
“They were killed by Israeli forces while trying to save lives,” the UN humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said on X. “We demand answers & justice.”
“One by one, they were hit, they were struck. Their bodies were gathered and buried in this mass grave,” said Jonathan Whittall, the top UN humanitarian official in Gaza, in a video message.
After firing on the vehicles, Israeli occupation forces bulldozed and crushed the ambulances, a fire truck, and a UN vehicle, UN officials added.
According to the New York Times (NYT), it was “a rare accusation by the organization, which is typically cautious about assigning clear blame.”
Since the beginning of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, 110 Civil Defense personnel have been killed by Israeli troops, including two rescuers who were deliberately killed by Israeli tank gunners as they tried to save five-year-old Hind Rajab and her family.
The General Directorate reported that the bodies of eight from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), six from the Palestinian Civil Defence (PCD), and one UNRWA worker were found eight days later, buried approximately 200 meters from where their vehicles, an ambulance, and a fire engine had also been destroyed.
Some of the bodies were found with their hands bound and with bullet holes visible in their chests and heads. One of the victims had been decapitated, while others had been disfigured and dismembered.
The Directorate said that the executions amount to the “crime of genocide, requiring the free world and international humanitarian and human rights organizations to go beyond mere condemnation, but rather to genuinely intervene and pressure the occupation to implement international humanitarian law.”
It called for the formation of an international commission of inquiry to investigate the crime.
The Directorate added that the Civil Defense and Palestinian Red Crescent members were killed by Israeli forces after responding to calls for help from residents in Tal al-Sultan during an Israeli assault.
Their vehicles were clearly marked with the Civil Defense logo, and their sirens and flashing lights had been activated. The rescuers were wearing their official uniforms, the Directorate confirmed, noting that they arrived in the area approximately an hour and a half before Israeli troops declared it a military zone.
Contact was lost with the rescuers approximately 10 minutes after they arrived at the location.
For the next eight days, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) attempted to coordinate with Israeli military officials to gain access to the area to search for the rescuers. However, the Israeli army repeatedly refused their requests, claiming the area was a closed military zone.
On Sunday, the UN also said Israel had killed the rescuers.
“They were killed by Israeli forces while trying to save lives,” the UN humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said on X. “We demand answers & justice.”
“One by one, they were hit, they were struck. Their bodies were gathered and buried in this mass grave,” said Jonathan Whittall, the top UN humanitarian official in Gaza, in a video message.
After firing on the vehicles, Israeli occupation forces bulldozed and crushed the ambulances, a fire truck, and a UN vehicle, UN officials added.
According to the New York Times (NYT), it was “a rare accusation by the organization, which is typically cautious about assigning clear blame.”
Since the beginning of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, 110 Civil Defense personnel have been killed by Israeli troops, including two rescuers who were deliberately killed by Israeli tank gunners as they tried to save five-year-old Hind Rajab and her family.
Israeli strike kills 12 members of Gaza family as offensive widens
Displaced family were preparing for weddings and childbirths before the attack struck home in Khan Younis
Displaced family were preparing for weddings and childbirths before the attack struck home in Khan Younis
Ahmed Aziz
An Israeli air strike on Khan Younis has killed at least 12 displaced Palestinians from the same family, relatives told Middle East Eye, as Israel expanded its offensive on Wednesday to seize "large areas" of Gaza.
“They were hanging out at our place, and wanted to wish their mother a happy Eid,” Basma al-Qaoud, a relative of the victims, told MEE.
“They left, and an hour or two later, we receive a call telling us the Bari family home was bombed, which was the home they were renting.”
The Qaoud family had survived over a year of Israeli attacks on Gaza, where they were displaced on several occasions.
“We have constantly been humiliated,” Basma said. “We went from Rafah to Deir al-Balah, and [my relatives] came with us. We then went from Deir al-Balah to Khan Younis, from Khan Younis back to Rafah and now we have left Rafah again.”
The Bari family, who lived on the floor below the Qaouds, lost two people to the strike.
More than 1,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed since Israel resumed its war on the enclave on 18 March, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Over 50,400 Palestinians have been killed in the war since October 2023.
Israel says it is pursuing Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), but Palestinians say civilians are being deliberately targeted.
“Those people have nothing to do with Hamas, Fatah, PIJ or anything of that kind,” Basma said.
“Yasser was a teacher, Abboud worked in cosmetics, Ismail worked in the old Palestinian Authority anyway. His children are all civilians. One of them was a bride preparing herself for her wedding, and the other was a groom engaged to a woman in Egypt. What else am I supposed to say? Another of his children was married and recently got pregnant.”
‘Their joys were consecutive’
Two of the victims were three-month-old girls. Another child was three years old. Others were recently engaged or married.
Ilham, another relative, said despite the horrors of war, the family had received a succession of good news recently.
“One of them was pregnant, one was engaged to a man, another was engaged to my sister, one was married, another recently married. One after the other,” she said, her face filled with tears.
“Their joys were all consecutive,” she added. “[Now] they are all gone together.”
Mostafa al-Jamal, the fiance of Tasnim, one of the victims, said he was excited to start a life with her when the war initially seemed over as a ceasefire was reached in January. Israel unilaterally ended the truce on 18 March.
“My fiancee and I got engaged during the last truce,” he said. “She is studying nursing like me. Our life was very good, with a good relationship. We were planning for a nice future, for our life. We wanted to study and work together.”
However, his dreams were cut short when Israel’s attack killed Tasnim.
“The occupation was an obstacle to everything we wanted to do,” he said.
‘Seizing large areas’
On Wednesday morning, Israel announced it would expand its operations in the Gaza Strip, aiming to take “large areas” of the Palestinian enclave.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said the offensive was “expanding to crush and clean the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure and seizing large areas that will be added to the security zones of the State of Israel”.
The Israeli government is also continuing its push for the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza.
On Tuesday, the interior ministry claimed that hundreds of Gaza residents, accompanied by German diplomats, were flown from southern Israel to Leipzig.
However, the German government quickly rejected this claim. “This is wrong,” the German foreign ministry said on X in response to a post about the Israeli statement.
In Jabalia, northern Gaza, an Isreli strike on a UN clinic sheltering displaced Palestinians killed at least 22 people.
Hamas described it as “a continuation of genocide and a reflection of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s disregard for international laws and humanitarian norms”.
The Palestinian armed group also rejected Israeli claims that the clinic was being used as a headquarters for its Jabalia Battalion, dismissing the allegations as “blatant fabrications aimed at justifying this heinous crime”.
Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes over Israel’s conduct in Gaza. Despite this, he is expected in Hungary on Wednesday for an official visit.
Hungary, a founding member of the ICC, is supposed to arrest the Israeli premier should he land in its territory, but its Prime Minister Viktor Orban vowed to disregard the arrest warrant.
Israeli and Hungarian media reported that Hungary plans to declare its withdrawal from the ICC during Netanyahu’s four-day trip.
An Israeli air strike on Khan Younis has killed at least 12 displaced Palestinians from the same family, relatives told Middle East Eye, as Israel expanded its offensive on Wednesday to seize "large areas" of Gaza.
“They were hanging out at our place, and wanted to wish their mother a happy Eid,” Basma al-Qaoud, a relative of the victims, told MEE.
“They left, and an hour or two later, we receive a call telling us the Bari family home was bombed, which was the home they were renting.”
The Qaoud family had survived over a year of Israeli attacks on Gaza, where they were displaced on several occasions.
“We have constantly been humiliated,” Basma said. “We went from Rafah to Deir al-Balah, and [my relatives] came with us. We then went from Deir al-Balah to Khan Younis, from Khan Younis back to Rafah and now we have left Rafah again.”
The Bari family, who lived on the floor below the Qaouds, lost two people to the strike.
More than 1,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed since Israel resumed its war on the enclave on 18 March, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Over 50,400 Palestinians have been killed in the war since October 2023.
Israel says it is pursuing Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), but Palestinians say civilians are being deliberately targeted.
“Those people have nothing to do with Hamas, Fatah, PIJ or anything of that kind,” Basma said.
“Yasser was a teacher, Abboud worked in cosmetics, Ismail worked in the old Palestinian Authority anyway. His children are all civilians. One of them was a bride preparing herself for her wedding, and the other was a groom engaged to a woman in Egypt. What else am I supposed to say? Another of his children was married and recently got pregnant.”
‘Their joys were consecutive’
Two of the victims were three-month-old girls. Another child was three years old. Others were recently engaged or married.
Ilham, another relative, said despite the horrors of war, the family had received a succession of good news recently.
“One of them was pregnant, one was engaged to a man, another was engaged to my sister, one was married, another recently married. One after the other,” she said, her face filled with tears.
“Their joys were all consecutive,” she added. “[Now] they are all gone together.”
Mostafa al-Jamal, the fiance of Tasnim, one of the victims, said he was excited to start a life with her when the war initially seemed over as a ceasefire was reached in January. Israel unilaterally ended the truce on 18 March.
“My fiancee and I got engaged during the last truce,” he said. “She is studying nursing like me. Our life was very good, with a good relationship. We were planning for a nice future, for our life. We wanted to study and work together.”
However, his dreams were cut short when Israel’s attack killed Tasnim.
“The occupation was an obstacle to everything we wanted to do,” he said.
‘Seizing large areas’
On Wednesday morning, Israel announced it would expand its operations in the Gaza Strip, aiming to take “large areas” of the Palestinian enclave.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said the offensive was “expanding to crush and clean the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure and seizing large areas that will be added to the security zones of the State of Israel”.
The Israeli government is also continuing its push for the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza.
On Tuesday, the interior ministry claimed that hundreds of Gaza residents, accompanied by German diplomats, were flown from southern Israel to Leipzig.
However, the German government quickly rejected this claim. “This is wrong,” the German foreign ministry said on X in response to a post about the Israeli statement.
In Jabalia, northern Gaza, an Isreli strike on a UN clinic sheltering displaced Palestinians killed at least 22 people.
Hamas described it as “a continuation of genocide and a reflection of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s disregard for international laws and humanitarian norms”.
The Palestinian armed group also rejected Israeli claims that the clinic was being used as a headquarters for its Jabalia Battalion, dismissing the allegations as “blatant fabrications aimed at justifying this heinous crime”.
Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes over Israel’s conduct in Gaza. Despite this, he is expected in Hungary on Wednesday for an official visit.
Hungary, a founding member of the ICC, is supposed to arrest the Israeli premier should he land in its territory, but its Prime Minister Viktor Orban vowed to disregard the arrest warrant.
Israeli and Hungarian media reported that Hungary plans to declare its withdrawal from the ICC during Netanyahu’s four-day trip.
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