TEL AVIV, April 9. /TASS/. The Israel Defense Forces will expand the operation in the Gaza Strip until the radical Hamas movement releases hostages held in the enclave, Defense Minister Israel Katz said during a visit to the southern part of the Palestinian enclave.
"If Hamas does not release the hostages soon, the Israel Defense Forces will launch an operation throughout the Gaza Strip and will fight until Hamas is defeated and all hostages are released," the top defense official said in a video message distributed by his press office. In his opinion, "the likelihood of a hostage release deal has increased since the resumption of hostilities" in the Palestinian enclave. Katz added that Israeli servicemen are "destroying terrorists, identifying and destroying terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip, even in places like the Morag Axis where the military has not acted so far."
On April 2, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the country would take control of the Morag Axis, which crosses the Gaza Strip from east to west in its southern part between the cities of Rafah and Khan Yunis. According to him, it will become a "second Philadelphi Corridor," a buffer strip of about 15 kilometers on the border between Gaza and Egypt. The army press office confirmed on April 5 that Israeli units were conducting an operation in the Morag Axis area. Visiting the position on April 9, Katz noted that "Gaza's population is being evacuated from the fighting and many areas are joining Israel's security zones," making "the Gaza Strip smaller and even more isolated."
On March 18, the Israeli army resumed fighting in the Gaza Strip, launching massive attacks on the Palestinian enclave and violating a ceasefire reached in January. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained that the radical Palestinian movement Hamas refused to agree to the proposals put forward at the talks by mediators and US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, saying that the goal of the operation in the enclave was the release of all hostages. The radicals blamed Israel and the US for the resumption of hostilities.