Israel announces plan to seize ‘large areas’ in Gaza – as it happened (2025)

• Israel’s defence minister has said the country intends to “seize large areas” of the Gaza Strip amid a major expansion of aerial and ground operations in the besieged Palestinian territory

• Israel Katz said in a statement on Wednesday that “troops will move to clear areas of terrorists and infrastructure, and seize extensive territory that will be added to the state of Israel’s security areas”

• Katz also said he was calling on Palestinian civilians to flee areas where fighting had returned after the collapse of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas last month and to “act now to overthrow Hamas and return all the hostages”

• Israel continued to target the Gaza Strip, with airstrikes overnight killing 17 people in the southern city of Khan Younis. Another 15 people were killed in a strike in the north of the strip Wednesday, according to officials at hospitals where the bodies were taken. Among those killed by the strikes were at five women, one of them pregnant, and two children

• The Israeli military issued sweeping evacuation orders last week for people in Rafah and a swath of land stretching northwards towards Khan Younis to move to al-Mawasi, an area on the shore that Israel has designated as a humanitarian zone but repeatedly bombed

• Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to travel to Hungary, despite the host country being a signatory to the international criminal court (ICC), which has issued an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister on suspicion of war crimes

• Hamas and Jordan’s foreign ministry criticised far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for a visit to Jerusalem’s holiest sites on Wednesday morning. Jordan called it “a dangerous escalation, unacceptable provocation, and desecration of the holiness of the al-Aqsa mosque”

• A demonstration has taken place in Jerusalem, with protesters calling for the government to enact a new conscription law which would end the exemption ultra-Orthodox Jewish men have on serving in the IDF

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• Crowds gathered in Nablus for the funeral of a 33-year-old man, Hamza al-Hamash, who was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the Israeli-occupied city earlier on Wednesday. Israeli forces also reportedly made arrests in Hebron, Tulkarm and Nour Shams

A demonstration has taken place in Jerusalem today, with protesters calling for the government to enact a new conscription law, which would end the exemption ultra-Orthodox Jewish men have on serving in the IDF. The march to the Knesset included the families of soldiers killed during the war in Gaza, as well as reservist soldier. The issue has been a political thorn for Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government for some time.

Israel’s military has announced that an incident involving the “suspicion of a hostile aircraft infiltration” near Kissufim has concluded. It said no injuries were reported. Kissufim is close to Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip, and is to the north-east of Khan Younis.

The sweeping forced displacement orders issued by Israel’s armed forces to civilians in Gaza this week have placed increased pressure on the delivery of humanitarian aid to people in the south of the territory.

Crowds have gathered in Nablus for the funeral of 33-year-old man, Hamza al-Hamash, who was shot and killed by Israeli forces in Israeli-occupied Nablus earlier on Wednesday.

Jordan has also criticised far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for his visit to Jerusalem’s holiest sites earlier today.

In a statement Jordan’s foreign ministry said “The entrance of the far-right minister into al-Aqsa mosque while accompanied by the occupation’s police brings a dangerous escalation, unacceptable provocation, and desecration of the holiness of the al-Aqsa mosque and the historic and legal status quo in place. Israel has no sovereignty over occupied Jerusalem, or Islamic and Christian holy sites.”

Hamas has condemned a visit on Wednesday by Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, calling it a “provocative and dangerous escalation”.

In a statement reported by AFP, the Palestinian militant group called for Palestinians “and our youth in the West Bank to escalate their confrontation ... in defence of our land and our sanctities, foremost among them the blessed al-Aqsa mosque”.

The disputed site is sacred to both Jews and Muslims.

• The Hostage Families Forum, which represents most captives’ families, said that it was “horrified to wake up this morning to the defense minister’s announcement about expanding military operations in Gaza.” The group said the Israeli government “has an obligation to free all 59 hostages from Hamas captivity — to pursue every possible channel to advance a deal for their release.”

• Israel continued to target the Gaza Strip, with airstrikes overnight killing 17 people in the southern city of Khan Younis. Another 15 people were killed in a strike in the north of the strip Wednesday, according to officials at hospitals where the bodies were taken.

• Officials at the Nasser Hospital said the bodies of 12 people killed in an overnight airstrike that were brought to the hospital included five women, one of them pregnant, and two children. Officials at the Gaza European Hospital said they received five bodies of people killed in two separate airstrikes.

• Officials at the Indonesian Hospital said an Israeli strike on a building of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip killed 15 people, including nine children and two women. The Palestinian Civil Defense said the building had been an UNRWA clinic that was now being used to house displaced people.

• Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to visit Hungary later today, despite an arrest warrant from the international criminal court (ICC) putting him at risk while visiting states that are signatories to the court. It is unclear what this means for Hungary’s membership of the ICC.

In a statement on its official Telegram channel, Israel’s military has claimed to have struck at Hamas targets in Jabalia in Gaza.

In the message it claimed that “terrorists were hiding inside a command and control centre that was being used for coordinating terrorist activity and served as a central meeting point for the terrorist organization. Additionally, the compound was used by the Hamas’ Jabalia Battalion to plan terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops.”

Palestinian sources claim that on Wednesday 19 people had been killed, including nine children, in Israeli stikes on the Jabalia area. Wafa reported that “residents struggled to identify the victims” after the strikes caused a fire.

In his earlier statement, Israel’s defense minister Israel Katz said the renewed offensive in Gaza was “expanding to crush and clean the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure and capture large areas that will be added to the security zones of the state of Israel.”

Reuters notes that according to the Israeli rights group Gisha, Israel has already taken control of about 62 square kilometres, some 17% of the total area of Gaza, as part of a buffer zone around the edges of the territory.

Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to visit Hungary later today, despite an arrest warrant from the international criminal court (ICC) putting him at risk while visiting states that are signatories to the court. The trip was announced by the Israeli prime minister’s office on Sunday.

Yesterday, Human Rights Watch urged Hungary to deny him entry, or carry out an arrest. Liz Evenson, international justice director, said“[Viktor] Orbán invitation to Netanyahu is an affront to victims of serious crimes. Hungary should comply with its legal obligations as a party to the ICC and arrest Netanyahu if he sets foot in the country.”

In November 2024 the international criminal court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israel’s former defense minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war.

The visit to Hungary will be Netanyahu’s second venture abroad since the warrant was issued. In February he met with US president Donald Trump in Washington. Neither Israel or the US are ratified signatories to the court.

Global children’s charity Plan International UK has issued a statement after Israel announced it was planning to seize large areas of Gaza. Kathleen Spencer Chapman said:

We utterly condemn Israel’s intention to expand its military violence in Gaza. These are ruthless acts of aggression against a starving and traumatised population. The people of Gaza have no shelter, no means of protecting themselves, and Israel’s illegal blockade has left medics without the supplies they need to treat the wounded. This isn’t war. This is an atrocity.

World leaders must put a stop to this horror. The ceasefire must be reinstated and aid allowed back into and throughout Gaza. Children and their families are in desperate need of food, water, medical supplies, and shelter. Without a ceasefire and an urgent influx of humanitarian aid, thousands more could die from hunger and related diseases alone.

Plan International UK works across over 80 countries, supporting girls against poverty, violence and discrimination.

In a statement, Germany’s foreign office says it has worked with Israeli authorities to assist 19 German citizens and their close family members in traveling from Gaza to Germany, Associated Press reports.

The statement described it as a routine wartime evacuation, adding “Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, the German government has repeatedly and intensively advocated for the departure and safety of German citizens.”

Former hostage Romi Gonen has posted to social media to say that “Every explosion shatters the hostages’ hopes a little more. I was there. I know.”

Gonen was released from Hamas captivity on 19 January, having been held for over 15 months since being seized and abducted on 7 October 2023.

She added in the post “I beg of the decision-makers. Don’t wait another moment. Bring back all 59 hostages.”

Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from Gaza.

In a statement on its official Telegram channel, Israel’s military claims it has killed “an armed terrorist … approaching the security fence in southern Gaza.”

The IDF said that he “posed a threat to IDF troops”. The statement added that there were no IDF casualties.

The death toll from Israeli strikes on Gaza in the last few hours has been put at 21 by medical sources who spoke to Al Jazeera. At least 12 Palestinians were killed by a strike on a house in Khan Younis. Here are some of the latest images sent over the news wire.

The father of one of the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza, Alon Ohel, has spoken to Hebrew media outlet Ynet, saying that he is “worried” by the announcement that Israel intends to expand its military operation in Gaza again and “capture large areas.”

Kobi Ohel said “I woke up to another day that I am worried and afraid for Alon’s fate. From what we know and have seen, fighting did not bring the kidnapped people home, and the way to return them is through a deal. Alon needs to be returned and saved.”