The minister said that after the war, Israeli forces will remain in Gaza’s “safe zone”.

Israel’s defense minister said that even after the war, the troops would continue to occupy the so-called security zone they established.

Katz said the areas will provide a “buffer” to protect Israeli communities in any temporary or permanent situation and have increased “a few percent” of the Palestinian territory since the resumption of Israel’s offensive three weeks ago.

He said that despite no warning of “destructive” consequences, Israel will continue its six-week lockdown on Hamas’ release of hostages to free the hostages.

Meanwhile, hospital officials said at least 24 Palestinians were killed during an Israeli strike across Gaza on Wednesday.

Most of the people killed were reportedly in the northern city of Gaza.

They include 10 members of the Hassouna family, mainly children and women. One of them is Fatema Hassouna – a young writer and photographer.

The BBC has asked the Israeli military to comment on the strike.

Hamas-run civil defense agency also said two people died in an Israel strike in the displaced family at Yarmouk Stadium in the northwest on Tuesday night.

It added that two other people were killed after a strike in a camp near the southern city of Khan Yunis.

Gaza’s Hamas Ministry of Health said more than 1,650 people have been killed since the war resumed on March 18.

The United Nations has said 69% of the territory is now under Israeli military evacuation orders, in the “no movement” area on the border with Israel and Egypt and the Wadigaza Valley south of the city of Gaza or both. An estimated 500,000 people have been displaced again, and there is no safe place.

The IDF said “hundreds of terrorists” were killed during the strike, and the troops had entered several areas in the north and south. It has established a new corridor that cuts the city of Rafa from the neighboring Khan Younis and designates 30% of Gaza as the “operational security perimeter”.

Israel Katz said in a statement Wednesday that the Israeli government’s policy in Gaza is to “firstly put in every effort to achieve the release of all hostages” and that all hostages are still held there and “later build a bridge to defeat Hamas.”

The Defense Minister added that the IDF is using “huge power” to clear the area of ​​“terrorist infrastructure” and then incorporate it into the “safe zone.”

“Unlike in the past, the IDF has not evacuated the cleaned and occupied areas,” he said.

“The Israel Defense Force will remain in a safe area as a buffer between enemies [Israeli] Gaza communities with temporary or permanent situations – such as Lebanon and Syria. ”

Kaz also made it clear that Israel will maintain its blockade at the same time.

“Israel’s policy is clear: no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza, and stopping such aid is the main pressure to stop Hamas from using it as a demographic tool,” he said.

The Israeli government said there was no shortage of aid from Gaza as supply of 25,000 trucks were imported during the ceasefire. However, UN agencies strongly rejected the claim and suggested that the lockdown could violate international humanitarian law.

“Intensified military operations, displacement orders, blockades of access to all aid and commercial supplies and blockades of humanitarian space are driving the worst humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip since October 2023,” the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the aid group Sans Frontières (MSF) warned that Gaza “has become a large-scale grave for Palestinians and people who come to their aid”.

“We witnessed the destruction and forced displacement of Gaza’s entire population in real time,” said Amande Bazerolle, Emergency Coordinator of Gaza’s charity.

“Because the humanitarian response is struggling with the weight of insecurity and severe supply shortages for Palestinians or those trying to help them, leaving people with little, if any, access to care.”

Doctors Without Borders said that two of its employees were killed in the past two weeks and 15 emergency workers were killed by Israeli forces last month, “a case of complete disregard for the protection of humanitarian and medical personnel by Israeli forces.”

It also says it faces shortages of pain management and chronic diseases, antibiotics and critical surgical materials.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the unprecedented cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, with about 1,200 people killed and another 251 were taken hostage.

At least 51,025 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to data from the regional health ministry.

Many of the 1.9 million displaced people returned to their home areas during the latest ceasefire, which began on January 19.

The ceasefire saw Hamas release 33 Israeli hostages — eight of which died — in exchange for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, a surge in humanitarian aid entering Gaza, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from densely populated areas.

Israel blocked all delivery of humanitarian aid and other necessary supplies to Gaza on March 2 and resumed its offense two weeks later, accusing Hamas of refusing to accept a proposal to expand the first phase of the ceasefire deal and release more 59 hostages, which it still holds 24 people, of which 24 are still alive.

Hamas accused Israel of violating the original agreement, under which all the remaining hostages will be handed over in the second phase, and the war will end permanently.

A senior Palestinian official told the BBC on Tuesday that Hamas rejected a new Israeli proposal to demand a six-week ceasefire in exchange for the release of half of Israeli hostages and armed groups.

On Wednesday, sources close to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office told Harez newspaper that Israel has not received a formal reply from Hamas.

Meanwhile, the Allied armed group Islamic Jihad also released a new video showing the Israeli-German hostage ROM Braslavski. In a video where he appears to be speaking under coercion, the 21-year-old called on the U.S. and Israeli governments to ensure his release.

German Ambassador to Israel Steffen Seibert said it was painful to see him “marching cruelly in the video.”

He added: “The terrorists must release him and all hostages now. For everyone involved in the talks: there is no more urgent responsibility than they return.”