Israel’s operations in Gaza expands to seize 'large areas'

Israel’s operations in Gaza expands to seize 'large areas;' Palestinians say dozens killed

For decades, Palestinian shepherds have faced threats and violence at the hands of Israeli settlers. Dozens of rural farms like this one have already been abandoned as *** result, but such violence is only increasing. This is just one of several incidents documented by Israeli NGO Bitselem over recent months. The organization says dozens of settlers descended on the occupied West Bank village of El Mania in mid February, attacking homes, farming equipment, and even residents. While Israeli police forces demolished the outpost established in the village by settlers, but Selem says the outpost was later rebuilt that same day. Dozens of Palestinian herding communities have been impacted by the spread of outposts like this one, essentially undefined settlements, usually made up of small structures or caravans. Israeli anti-settlement watchdogs Peace Now and Kerem Navot say at least 49 outposts were established in the months following the October 7th attacks, an increase of nearly 50% since the beginning of the war in Gaza. As of last December, the groups estimate that herding outposts covered almost 14% of the occupied West Bank. That's an area of land roughly twice the size of Gaza. And that's in addition to approximately 150 officially recognized settlements that have already been established in the West Bank. Both outposts and settlements are considered illegal under international law. Satellite imagery analyzed by CNN shows how rapidly herding outposts have spread, as well as the gradual development of new roads connecting the outposts to established settlements, and in some cases cutting Palestinians off from the land that they depend on. In the northern village of El Fari, the local farming community has now been almost entirely depopulated. Back in February, we met the Derama family. At the time, still desperately clinging on to their land. These hills are full of areas for our animals to feed, but now there are settlers over here, over there, and another one over there. We can't access these areas, Ahmed says. The settlers come to scare our sheep and frighten our children. We've had to stop going up on the hills with our sheep, fearing they will come after us. Ahmed's family says they have lived here for generations, the land not only their home but also their livelihood. We've always lived here, Hussein says. Our whole lives are here. Where else can we go? Since filming, members of the Drama family told CNN they were left with no choice but to abandon their homes. Acts of violence by settlers from nearby outposts simply too much to bear. Activists say outposts like those around the village of Al Faria are established with the purpose of laying claim to Palestinian land and pressuring Palestinian communities to flee. Through threats, physical violence, and direct attacks on resources, including livestock and farming equipment, often with the protection from both the military and the state. CNN has reached out to the Israeli government about allegations of its support for illegal outposts but has not received *** response. The Israeli military told CNN that it condemns violence in any form and that police are tasked with handling any Israeli violations of the law. When asked about new roads we saw being developed around another nearby village, the IDF said the land had been seized for operational needs, adding that the route is intended for use by security forces and that it has been developed in accordance with military orders. It's important to understand that this projecting out campaign or this project is *** national project, *** state project. This is not *** project which is initiated by. Individuals, it's *** project which the state of Israel is standing behind it. It's budgeting, it's facilitating, it's protecting it. The Ministry of Settlements, for example, has budgeted for outposts which it calls young settlements, previously saying funds were carried out in accordance with all laws. But the displacement of Palestinian herding communities is just one part of *** deepening crisis in the West Bank. The UN says more than 40,000 Palestinians have been forced from their homes since February by an expanding Israeli military operation, with Israel's defense minister calling on the military to prevent the return of those displaced, stoking fears around the potential for *** full annexation of the territory and crushing hopes for *** pathway to *** viable Palestinian state. Nada Bashir, CNN in the occupied West Bank.

Israel’s operations in Gaza expands to seize 'large areas;' Palestinians say dozens killed

Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip is expanding to seize “large areas,” the defense minister said, while officials at hospitals inside the Palestinian territory said that Israeli strikes overnight and into Wednesday had killed more than 40 people, nearly a dozen of them children.Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian territory was “expanding to crush and clean the area" of militants and "seizing large areas that will be added to the security zones of the State of Israel,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a written statement.The Israeli government has long maintained a buffer zone just inside Gaza along its security fence and has greatly expanded since the war began in 2023. Israel says the buffer zone is needed for its security, while Palestinians view it as a land grab that further shrinks the narrow coastal territory, home to around 2 million people.Katz didn't specify which areas of Gaza would be seized in the expanded operation, which he said includes the “extensive evacuation” of the population from fighting areas. His statement came after Israel ordered the full evacuation of the southern city of Rafah and nearby areas.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel aims to maintain an open-ended but unspecified security control of the Gaza Strip once it achieves its aim of crushing Hamas.The minister called on Gaza residents to “expel Hamas and return all hostages.” The militant group still holds 59 captives, of whom 24 are believed to still be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.“This is the only way to end the war,” Katz said.Since the breakdown of the ceasefire last month, when Israel ordered people to move and expanded their areas of operation, the “no-go” zones in Gaza now constitute more than 60% of the strip, said Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.Aid groups are providing assistance as the situation allows, as supplies dwindled because of Israel’s monthlong blockade on Gaza. “No-go” zones include the military zone in the Netzarim corridor — a zone carved out by Israel separating northern from southern Gaza — and the expanded buffer zone and evacuation areas.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." They stressed that every passing day puts their loved ones' lives at greater risk.“Their lives hang in the balance as more and more disturbing details continue to emerge about the horrific conditions they’re being held in — chained, abused, and in desperate need of medical attention,” said the forum, which called on the Trump administration and other mediators to continue pressuring Hamas to release the hostages.“Our highest priority must be an immediate deal to bring ALL hostages back home — the living for rehabilitation and those killed for proper burial — and end this war,” the group said.Children killed in strike on UN buildingIsrael 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.Later Wednesday, officials at the Indonesian Hospital said an Israeli strike on a building of the U.N. 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. It said the attack hit two rooms in the building, and that it evacuated the bodies of seven of those killed as well as 12 people who were wounded.Juliette Touma, a spokeswoman for UNRWA, said the site wasn't functioning as a clinic when it was hit, but was being used as a shelter for displaced people, with about 735 people from 160 families staying there.Despite UNRWA staff warning of the dangers of the facility after Wednesday’s attack, many displaced families haven't left the site, “simply because they have absolutely nowhere else to go,” Touma said, adding that no UNRWA staff were killed or wounded in the strike.The Israeli military said it struck Hamas members in the area, adding that they were hiding inside “a command and control center that was being used for coordinating” armed activity and served as a central meeting point for the Palestinian group.Separately, the European Hospital said that it had received the bodies of eight people killed in Khan Younis during the day Wednesday, while another three killed in Zawaida in central Gaza arrived at the Aqsa hospital, officials there said.The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.Israel’s offensive has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, including hundreds killed in strikes since a ceasefire ended about two weeks ago, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t say whether those killed are civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

JERUSALEM —

Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian territory was “expanding to crush and clean the area" of militants and "seizing large areas that will be added to the security zones of the State of Israel,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a written statement.

The Israeli government has long maintained a buffer zone just inside Gaza along its security fence and has greatly expanded since the war began in 2023. Israel says the buffer zone is needed for its security, while Palestinians view it as a land grab that further shrinks the narrow coastal territory, home to around 2 million people.

Katz didn't specify which areas of Gaza would be seized in the expanded operation, which he said includes the “extensive evacuation” of the population from fighting areas. His statement came after Israel ordered the full evacuation of the southern city of Rafah and nearby areas.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel aims to maintain an open-ended but unspecified security control of the Gaza Strip once it achieves its aim of crushing Hamas.

The minister called on Gaza residents to “expel Hamas and return all hostages.” The militant group still holds 59 captives, of whom 24 are believed to still be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

“This is the only way to end the war,” Katz said.

Since the breakdown of the ceasefire last month, when Israel ordered people to move and expanded their areas of operation, the “no-go” zones in Gaza now constitute more than 60% of the strip, said Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Aid groups are providing assistance as the situation allows, as supplies dwindled because of Israel’s monthlong blockade on Gaza. “No-go” zones include the military zone in the Netzarim corridor — a zone carved out by Israel separating northern from southern Gaza — and the expanded buffer zone and evacuation areas.

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." They stressed that every passing day puts their loved ones' lives at greater risk.

“Their lives hang in the balance as more and more disturbing details continue to emerge about the horrific conditions they’re being held in — chained, abused, and in desperate need of medical attention,” said the forum, which called on the Trump administration and other mediators to continue pressuring Hamas to release the hostages.

“Our highest priority must be an immediate deal to bring ALL hostages back home — the living for rehabilitation and those killed for proper burial — and end this war,” the group said.

Children killed in strike on UN building

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.

Later Wednesday, officials at the Indonesian Hospital said an Israeli strike on a building of the U.N. 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. It said the attack hit two rooms in the building, and that it evacuated the bodies of seven of those killed as well as 12 people who were wounded.

Juliette Touma, a spokeswoman for UNRWA, said the site wasn't functioning as a clinic when it was hit, but was being used as a shelter for displaced people, with about 735 people from 160 families staying there.

Despite UNRWA staff warning of the dangers of the facility after Wednesday’s attack, many displaced families haven't left the site, “simply because they have absolutely nowhere else to go,” Touma said, adding that no UNRWA staff were killed or wounded in the strike.

The Israeli military said it struck Hamas members in the area, adding that they were hiding inside “a command and control center that was being used for coordinating” armed activity and served as a central meeting point for the Palestinian group.

Separately, the European Hospital said that it had received the bodies of eight people killed in Khan Younis during the day Wednesday, while another three killed in Zawaida in central Gaza arrived at the Aqsa hospital, officials there said.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, including hundreds killed in strikes since a ceasefire ended about two weeks ago, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t say whether those killed are civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

��vlog