As the war in Gaza rages on, Israel has announced its intention to expand the war. As per the announcement from the Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz stated that this expansion of military operations will add "pressure on Hamas."
Meanwhile, Hamas agreed to release five hostages under the new ceasefire deal.
Gaza War | Latest Developments
Israel Katz took to X to announce that Israel will be expanding its operations in Gaza to increase pressure on Hamas.
"Expanding the operation this morning will increase the pressure on the Hamas murderers and also on the population in Gaza and advance the achievement of the sacred and important goal for all of us,” said Katz in a post on X.
The minister further urged Gazans to evacuate and "remove Hamas."
Hamas has agreed to the recent ceasefire proposal and stated it would release five hostages. However, Israel countered this proposal, bringing a standstill to the truce talks again.
Residents in the southern town of Rafah are once again fleeing the area after the IDF warned residents to evacuate.
"The IDF is returning to fight with great force to eliminate the capabilities of terrorist organizations in these areas," Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF's Arabic language spokesperson, tweeted.
"For your safety, you must move immediately to the shelters in Al Mawasi," he added further.
Since dawn, around 21 people have been killed across Gaza amid Israeli bombardment. This comes after nearly 70 people were killed in the war-torn strip on Eid-ul-Fitr as Israel resumed its strikes.
Meanwhile, families of the Hostage Forum in Israel have continued their protests and demands to stop the war on Gaza.
"Instead of securing the release of the hostages through a deal and ending the war, the Israeli government is sending more soldiers into Gaza to fight in the same areas where battles have already taken place repeatedly. The responsibility for the release of the 59 hostages held by Hamas lies with the Israeli government. Our grave concern is that this mission has been pushed to the bottom of its priorities and has become merely a secondary objectives," read the statement issued by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
