Hostage Families Forum criticizes expanded operation, saying government is “sacrificing hostages” for “territorial gains”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced Wednesday morning that the country is expanding its operations in Gaza, following intense overnight attacks in the southern part of the region
According to Katz, the troops will advance to “clear areas of terrorists and their structures, and capture a large area that will be incorporated into the security zones of the State of Israel.”
The Israeli military (IDF) sent another division into the southern Gaza Strip earlier in the day as part of an expanded offensive against Hamas.
Palestinian newspapers reported a series of strikes in Rafah and Khan Younis the previous night, and later reported that troops were advancing on Rafah. According to those reports, the strikes had killed 21 people as of Wednesday morning.
The entry of troops into southern Gaza follows an IDF announcement a month ago that its 36th Division had been sent to the Southern Command to prepare for operations in the area.
This expanded ground operation began just days after the IDF issued an evacuation alert for the entire Rafah area and a large strip of land between Rafah and Khan Younis, where ground troops had not yet deployed.
It was the most significant evacuation order issued by the IDF since the offensive against Hamas resumed earlier this month, ending a two-month ceasefire. The warning came during Eid al-Fitr, a Muslim celebration marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. In his statement Wednesday, Katz also called on Gazans to “act now to topple Hamas and bring all hostages back.” The Forum of Families of Hostages and Missing Persons criticized the decision, saying the families “were shocked to wake up today to the announcement by the Defense Minister that the military operation in Gaza would be expanded to ‘capture a large territory.'” “Did they decide to sacrifice the hostages for the sake of ‘territorial gains”‘” the Forum asked in a statement. “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 occurred several times.”
The father of Alon Ohel, a hostage who, according to reports from freed hostages, may be suffering from serious and life-threatening injuries in the hands of Hamas, warned against expanding the offensive in Gaza.
“I woke up another day worried and afraid for Alon’s fate. From what we know and have seen, the fighting has not brought the hostages home, and the way to rescue them is through an agreement,” Kobi Ohel said.
Terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip still hold 59 hostages, including 58 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. Among them are the bodies of at least 35 hostages who the IDF has confirmed are dead.
Israel resumed heavy bombardment of Gaza on March 18 and then launched a new ground offensive, ending a nearly two-month cease-fire in the war with Hamas. Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry said on Tuesday that 1,042 people had been killed since the new offensive began. Under the Jan. 19 cease-fire agreement, the parties were supposed to begin negotiations on a second phase a few weeks later, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused, insisting that the war would end only when Hamas’s military and governing capabilities were destroyed.
Published in 04/02/2025 13h51
Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption.
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