Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel would annex parts of the Gaza Strip unless Hamas released the remaining Israeli hostages held in the Palestinian enclave. The statement came amid intensifying Israeli military strikes in Gaza that started on Tuesday.
"I ordered the IDF to seize more territory in Gaza," Katz said in a statement. "The more Hamas sticks to its refusal to release the hostages, the more territory it would lose, territory which would be annexed to Israel."
The Israeli military continued its attacks on Gaza on Friday, having effectively effectively ended a two-month ceasefire earlier this week.
Health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza said Thursday that 504 people had been killed since the war resumed.
During terror attacks on October 7, 2023, Hamas and other militants killed some 1,200 people and took 251 more hostage — 59 of the hostages are still being held by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups. Israeli authorities believe 24 of them are still alive.
'Catastrophic' conditions in Gaza
Dr. Mohammed Mustafa, an Australian doctor working in Gaza, told DW that medical conditions in the enclave are "catastrophic" as the fighting resumed.
"We have little to no medicine. We have little to no antibiotics left," he said. "We are really lacking in resources, medical equipment and even basic things like blood pressure cuffs, monitoring people's oxygen levels and even oxygen cylinders."
Mustafa added that the current shortage in fuel in Gaza means medical teams are struggling with transporting patients from one hospital to another, where they could be looked after, with some patients succumbing to their wounds as a result.