Israel Expanding Gaza Offensive, ‘Large Areas’ to Be Seized
April 2, 2025
2,060
By
Shane Croucher is a Breaking News Editor based in London, UK. He has previously overseen the My Turn, Fact Check and News teams, and was a Senior Reporter before that, mostly covering U.S. news and politics. Shane joined Newsweek in February 2018 from IBT UK where he held various editorial roles covering different beats, including general news, politics, economics, business, and property. He is a graduate of the University of Lincoln, England. Languages: English. You can reach Shane by emailing s.croucher@newsweek.com
Shane Croucher
Breaking News Editor
news article
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Share
✓ Link copied to clipboard!
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said his forces were launching a military operation in Gaza that would see it take control of “large areas”.
The expanded offensive would see Israel’s military “crush and clean the area” of militants, Katz said in a statement on Wednesday morning, and “seizing large areas that will be added to the security zones of the State of Israel.”
The Israeli government has long maintained a buffer zone just inside Gaza along its security fence and has greatly expanded since the war against Hamas began in 2023 following the October 7 attack.
Israel says the buffer zone is needed for its security, while Palestinians view it as a land grab that further shrinks the narrow coastal territory, home to around 2 million people.
Katz didn’t specify which areas of Gaza would be seized in the expanded operation, which he said includes the “extensive evacuation” of the population from fighting areas.
This is a developing story and more information will be added soon.
This article uses reporting by The Associated Press.
A Palestinian woman reacts amidst the rubble of a building in an area targeted during Israeli strikes in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 2, 2025. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced… A Palestinian woman reacts amidst the rubble of a building in an area targeted during Israeli strikes in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 2, 2025. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on April 2, a major expansion of military operations in Hamas-run Gaza, saying the army would seize “large areas” of the Palestinian territory.
Um die besten Erfahrungen zu bieten, verwenden wir Technologien wie Cookies, um Geräteinformationen zu speichern und/oder darauf zuzugreifen. Wenn Sie diesen Technologien zustimmen, können wir Daten wie das Surfverhalten oder eindeutige IDs auf dieser Website verarbeiten. Die Nichteinwilligung oder der Widerruf der Einwilligung kann bestimmte Merkmale und Funktionen beeinträchtigen.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
