Egypt Daily News – Israel announced the expansion of its “security zones” within the Gaza Strip, describing the area as now being “smaller and more isolated.” This announcement came after an Israeli airstrike killed 23 Palestinians, including women and children, in the Shujaiya neighborhood.
This development coincides with the increasing displacement and repeated UN warnings about the worsening humanitarian situation, as international efforts to extend the previous ceasefire stumble amid conflicting demands from Tel Aviv and Hamas regarding the hostages.
On Wednesday, Israel revealed that it had seized “large areas” of the Gaza Strip, making the territory “smaller and more isolated,” according to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. This step reflects a new reality on the ground as the military escalation continues.
This was accompanied by a statement from the Palestinian Civil Defense confirming the death of at least 23 people, including children and women, in an Israeli airstrike on the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City on Wednesday.
These developments come amid sharp disagreements over implementing the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, which went into effect on January 19, following a 15-month war between Israel and Hamas. The agreement collapsed when Israeli airstrikes and ground operations resumed on March 18, undoing the fragile ceasefire and plunging the region back into escalation.
Gallant stated, during a tour of the “Morag” axis, which Israel set up to separate the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza, that the Israeli army was working to “integrate the seized areas into Israeli security belts,” reducing the geographical area controlled by Hamas and further isolating the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Defense Minister urged Gaza residents to “rise up against Hamas” and release the hostages, considering this as “the only way to end the war,” threatening “more violent fighting across the sector” until the military operation’s objectives are completed.
At the same time, Gallant referred to a plan announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, aimed at “voluntary migration” of Gaza’s residents, although no further details on the plan were provided.
Meanwhile, Palestinian sources confirmed the death of 23 people, including women and children, in an Israeli airstrike targeting the densely populated Shujaiya neighborhood in Gaza City.
Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal reported that search operations under the rubble were ongoing, raising the likelihood of the death toll increasing, while the number of injured surpassed fifty.
An eyewitness named Ayoub Salim (26) reported that “the missiles shook the entire area,” and that the destruction and dust filled the place, adding that “there was great panic due to the sight of body parts amidst the cries of people.”
In contrast, the Israeli army told AFP that the strike “targeted a prominent Hamas commander,” claiming that “numerous steps were taken to minimize collateral damage.”
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating further. The United Nations reported this week that around 400,000 Gaza residents have been displaced over the past three weeks, while the Palestinian Ministry of Health warned of a “catastrophic” situation due to a shortage of medicines and blood in hospitals, especially at the Baptist Hospital, which received the largest number of casualties on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for Gaza’s Ministry of Health described the latest airstrikes as “devastating,” as they involved the use of “massive rockets” that caused severe damage to homes and roads.
Since the resumption of military operations on March 18, the death toll of Palestinians has reached around 1,482 people, according to Ministry data, raising the total death toll in Gaza since the start of the war after Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, to 50,846, according to the same source.
In comparison, official Israeli statistics report 1,218 deaths, most of whom were civilians, since Hamas’s October attack, while authorities confirm continued threats to settlements near the Gaza Strip.
Efforts to re-establish a ceasefire have been unsuccessful, and the situation remains fraught with tension over the hostages.
The previous ceasefire, which collapsed in mid-March, led to the release of 33 Israeli hostages, eight of whom were deceased, in exchange for the release of 1,800 Palestinian detainees. However, no new agreement has emerged yet, as U.S. and Israeli efforts reportedly continue to “reach a second deal” aimed at freeing more hostages held in Gaza, as stated by U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week.
Hamas political bureau member Hussam Badran told AFP that the movement is “open to all ideas” leading to a ceasefire, noting that communication with mediators continues, but no significant breakthrough has been achieved yet.
Families of Israeli hostages are fearful for the fate of their loved ones amid ongoing heavy bombing, while Hamas has vowed that “the ongoing massacres against the Palestinian people will not go unpunished.”
For its part, the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned what it called the “Shujaiya massacre” and urged the international community to “take deterrent actions” to stop the “policy of destruction and displacement,” referring to repeated warnings to residents to evacuate their homes, describing this approach as “practical implementation of a project to force Gaza residents into migration.”
