TEL AVIV, March 25. /TASS/. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has authorized operational plans to continue the fighting in the Gaz Strip, The Times of Israel reported.
According to the newspaper, he approved of these plans, following a meeting with Yaniv Asor, chief of the IDF Southern Command, and a number of other commanders.
Katz said that the military is tasked with retrieving hostages held in the enclave by the radical Palestinian Hamas movement. "Our main goal now is to return all the hostages home. If Hamas continues its refusal, it will pay increasingly heavy prices, in land that will be taken, operatives who will be eliminated, and [destroyed] infrastructure, until it is completely defeated," the minister said.
On March 18, the Israeli army resumed military operations in Gaza, launching massive strikes on the enclave. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office justified the move by the radical Palestinian Hamas movement’s rejection of proposals made during talks with intermediaries and US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff. It also stated that the goal of the operation in the Gaza Strip is to free all hostages. The radicals blamed Israel and the United States for the resumption of hostilities.