Israel threatens with annexation after ground invasion in north, south Gaza

The Israeli military assault on the Gaza Strip has lasted for four more days as its ground forces infiltrated the country’s northern and southern borders and threatened to seize property in the coastal region.

Israel Katz, the country’s defense minister, stated on Friday that it would “intensify” its military assault on Hamas and use “all military and civilian pressure,” including the south’s evacuation and the implementation of US President Trump’s voluntary migration plan for Gaza residents.

According to Katz, the army was instructed by local media to “seize additional areas in Gaza, evacuate the population, and expand security zones around Gaza to protect Israeli communities and Israeli army soldiers.”

He also warned that until the Gaza-based armed group agrees to release all captives who are still being held in the Strip, Israel would seize control of Gaza’s land.

The Jerusalem Post newspaper quoted Katz as saying, “The more Hamas persists in its refusal to release the hostages, the more territory it will lose, which will be annexed to Israel.”

Israel will continue to occupy more and more of the Strip’s for permanent control if the hostages aren’t freed.

Late on Thursday, Israeli troops invaded Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza and the Shaboura area of Rafah, the country’s southernmost city close to the Egyptian border.

As part of its expanding ground operations, Israel announced earlier this week that it had blocked the territory’s main north-south route.

According to Beit Lahiya and Rafah residents, Israeli forces did not give any prior warning of their activities, according to Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, who was reporting from central Gaza.

They issued no leaflets or issued no evacuation orders for those areas. Palestinians suddenly discovered airstrikes and shelling attacks on them, she claimed.

More than 590 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday as Israel violated the nearly two-month ceasefire in Gaza, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

According to Al Jazeera reporters, Israeli aircraft have been attacked “heavy” in the north of Gaza City on Friday.

East of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, there have also been reports of air attacks in Khuza’a and Abasan.

Hospitals are “overburdened” due to lack of assistance.

UNRWA, the organization for Palestinian refugees, expressed concern over how little aid is being distributed in Gaza, which is a result of recent drastic reductions in aid distribution.

No supplies have ever entered Gaza since the start of the conflict in October 2023, according to UNRWA’s Sam Rose, who spoke to reporters from central Gaza. The aid system’s accomplishments over the last six weeks of the ceasefire are now being reversed.

Meanwhile, according to Al Jazeera’s Khoudary, Israel’s renewed assault has left hospitals and health facilities in the Strip flooded.

“We’re talking about bringing in zero-element trucks in the Gaza Strip for 18 days.” She claimed that no medical truck has ever entered the Gaza Strip.

According to doctors, “the majority of these injuries are very serious and the majority of the injured are children, women, and the elderly,” they claim.

Additionally, the coastal enclave’s lack of fuel was worsening the situation. If they do not receive fuel in the coming days, Khoudary said, “the majority of Gaza’s hospitals are at risk of collapsing and shutting down.”

After the first phase of the ceasefire expired, Israel halted all humanitarian aid entering Gaza on March 2. This resulted in food, medicine, and fuel being cut off.