After ending a two-month cease-fire this week, Israel Katz, the country’s defense minister, reportedly increased pressure on Hamas by threatening to permanently occupy areas of the Gaza Strip and to uproot its inhabitants if the group doesn’t free its remaining hostages.
A day after Israeli troops retook much of a crucial corridor that separated the north and south of the enclave, Katz said on Friday that he had given the military orders to occupy portions of the strip and remove its residents.
After a barrage of lethal airstrikes earlier this week, Israeli ground forces returned to Gaza, pushing the region closer to full-scale conflict.
As negotiations to prolong the cease-fire agreement broke down, Israel has taken a number of more drastic measures in recent weeks, the ground operations being the most recent.
Katz said that portions of the enclave might be occupied and warned that if Hamas refuses to return all of the captives, “permanent Israeli control of the territory” may result.
He promised more air, land, and sea attacks.
According to Israeli security professionals, the threat seems to be a pressure technique that is unlikely to be fully implemented.
Although the Israeli military did not elaborate on the operation, it said late Thursday that its troops were engaged in the Shaboura neighborhood of Rafah in southern Gaza, where they destroyed “terrorist infrastructure.”
It said that forces were also working to demolish infrastructure at a medical facility that Hamas allegedly exploited in the north.
With up to 24 hostages the government believes may still be alive, Israeli officials have promised to increase pressure on the U.S.-designated terrorist organization to return the 59 captives that are still inside Gaza.
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