Israel threatens 'permanent' control of Gaza areas unless Hamas releases hostages

Israeli Defense Minister Katz told Hamas that the IDF would take "permanent" and "annexed" control of parts of the Gaza Strip unless the hostages were freed.

Israel ordered its troops to permanently seize parts of the Gaza Strip — to be “annexed to Israel” — unless Hamas hands over the remaining hostages, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Friday.

The statement came after Israel this week broke the two-month ceasefire with Hamas, with the resumption of airstrikes and ground operations in Gaza killing nearly 600 people.

The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to intensify those operations until the militant group, which nominally controlled Gaza before this round of conflict, returns the 59 dead and living hostages who it continues to hold captive.

“I have instructed the IDF to seize additional areas in Gaza, while evacuating the population, and to expand the security zones around Gaza for the protection of Israeli communities and IDF soldiers,” Katz said in a statement. “The more Hamas persists in its refusal to release the hostages, the more territory it will lose, which will be annexed to Israel.”

Israeli soldiers look out from a tank toward destroyed buildings in northern Gaza on Tuesday.Amir Levy / Getty ImagesKatz also threatened the use of “all military and civilian pressure tools including the evacuation of Gaza’s population southward and the implementation of voluntary relocation plans for Gaza residents,” while describing the new more expansive phase of Israel's military offensive in the enclave.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/israel-gaza-hamas-katz-annex-idf-palestinian-witkoff-rcna197434

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