The Japan Times - Israel PM says 'dissecting' Gaza to force Hamas to free hostages

It came as rescuers said 34 people were killed in continued Israeli strikes on the territory, including on a UN building.

The military is "dissecting the (Gaza) Strip and increasing the pressure step by step so that (Hamas) will return our hostages", Netanyahu said in a statement, adding that Israel "is seizing territory, striking terrorists, and destroying infrastructure".

He added that the army is "taking control of the 'Morag Axis'", a strip of land that is expected to run between the southern governorates of Khan Yunis and Rafah.

The name of the axis refers to a former Israeli settlement that was evacuated when Israel unilaterally pulled out of Gaza in 2005.

Defence Minister Israel Katz earlier said Israel would bolster its military presence in the Palestinian territory to "destroy and clear the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure".

The operation would "seize large areas that will be incorporated into Israeli security zones" already under military control, he said in a statement, without specifying how much territory.

Gaza's civil defence agency said an Israeli strike that targeted a UN building "housing a medical clinic in Jabalia refugee camp" killed at least 19 people, including nine children.

The Israeli army said it struck Hamas militants "inside a command and control centre" in north Gaza's Jabalia. It separately confirmed to AFP the building housed a UN clinic.

The Palestinian foreign ministry, based in the occupied West Bank, condemned the "massacre" at the clinic run by UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, and called for "serious international pressure" to halt Israel's widening offensive.

- 'Horrified' -

Israel has on several occasions conducted strikes on UNRWA buildings housing displaced people in Gaza, where fighting has raged for most of the past 18 months.

The Israeli military accuses Hamas of hiding in school buildings where thousands of Gazans have sought shelter -- a charge denied by the Palestinian militant group.

Israel also carried out deadly air strikes in southern and central Gaza on Wednesday. The civil defence said dawn strikes killed at least 13 people in Khan Yunis and two in Nuseirat refugee camp.

Late Wednesday, the military said it had intercepted "two projectiles that crossed into Israeli territory from northern Gaza", after air raid sirens sounded in border communities.

Shortly after, military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in an online post that "terrorist organisations... launch their rockets from among civilians", telling Palestinians in parts of northern Gaza to evacuate "for your safety" ahead of an attack.

Israel resumed intense bombing of Gaza on March 18 before launching a new ground offensive, ending a nearly two-month ceasefire.

An Israeli group representing the families of hostages still held in Gaza said they were "horrified" by Katz's announcement of expanded military operations.

"Has it been decided to sacrifice the hostages for the sake of 'territorial gains?'" the Hostages and Missing Families Forum asked in a statement.

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for "a full, thorough and independent investigation" into the killing of 15 emergency responders in Gaza, whose bodies had been recovered days after a shooting last month in the southern city of Rafah.

"The secretary-general is shocked by the attacks of the Israeli army on a medical and emergency convoy on March 23," spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a briefing.

"It was shocking" to see medical workers "still in their uniforms, still wearing gloves, killed while trying to save lives," said Jonathan Whittall, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Palestinian territories.

"The ambulances were hit one by one," he said.

- Hunger -

At least 1,066 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel resumed military operations, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said.

That took the overall toll to at least 50,423 since the war began with Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, according to Israeli figures.

Hunger loomed in Gaza City as bakeries closed due to worsening shortages of flour and sugar since Israel blocked the entry of supplies from March 2.

"I've been going from bakery to bakery all morning, but none of them are operating, they're all closed," Amina al-Sayed told AFP.

On Sunday, Netanyahu offered to let Hamas leaders leave Gaza but demanded the group abandon its arms. Hamas has signalled willingness to cede power in Gaza but calls disarmament a "red line".

Egypt, Qatar and the United States are attempting to broker a new ceasefire and secure the release of the remaining Israeli hostages.

A senior Hamas official said Saturday the group had approved a new ceasefire proposal, while Netanyahu's office said Israel had submitted a counteroffer. The details remain undisclosed.

K.Nakajima--JT