Middle East crisis: Israel defence minister threatens to annex parts of Gaza unless Hamas frees remaining hostages – as it happened

Israel’s defence minister said on Friday he has instructed the military to “seize more ground” in Gaza and threatened to annex part of the territory unless Hamas releases the remaining hostages it holds.

Israel Katz’s warning came as the army stepped up the renewed assault it launched on Tuesday, shattering the truce that had facilitated the release of more than two dozen hostages and brought relative calm since late January.

After retaking part of the strategic Netzarim corridor that divides Gaza’s north from south, Israeli troops moved on Thursday towards the northern town of Beit Lahiya and the southern border city of Rafah. The military said it had resumed enforcing a blockade on northern Gaza, including Gaza City.

“I ordered [the army] to seize more territory in Gaza,” Katz said. “The more Hamas refuses to free the hostages, the more territory it will lose, which will be annexed by Israel.”

Katz also threatened “to expand buffer zones around Gaza to protect Israeli civilian population areas and soldiers by implementing a permanent Israeli occupation of the area,” should Hamas not comply.

He said the army “will intensify the fight with aerial, naval and ground shelling as well as by expanding the ground operation”, which he said would include implementing Donald Trump’s proposal to turn Gaza into a resort after the relocation of its Palestinian inhabitants to other Arab countries.

To read the full report, see here:

That’s all from me, Tom Ambrose, and the Middle East crisis live blog for today. Thanks for following along.

Palestinian militant group Hamas is to blame for deaths in the Gaza Strip since hostilities resumed, the United States told the UN security council on Friday.

“Hamas bears full responsibility for the ongoing war in Gaza and for the resumption of hostilities. Every death would have been avoided had Hamas accepted the bridge proposal that the United States offered last Wednesday,” acting US ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea told the 15-member council.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has said he is “concerned” by Gaza escalation and is “ready to help cool tensions”, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

More details soon …

• The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa), one of the largest providers of food aid in Gaza, warned on Friday it only had enough flour to distribute for the next six days. “We can stretch that by giving people less, but we are talking days, not weeks,” Unrwa official Sam Rose told reporters in Geneva in an online briefing from central Gaza, reports Reuters.

• Israel’s supreme court on Friday froze the decision by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to sack Ronen Bar, the head of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, in order to review appeals filed against the dismissal. “It is hereby ordered that a provisional measure be taken to stay the effect of the decision subject to the appeals until another decision is made,” the court said in a document obtained by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

• The head of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, has been dismissed, a week after Benjamin Netanyahu said he had lost confidence in him, and despite three days of protests against the move. “The government unanimously approved prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to end ISA [Israeli Security Agency] director Ronen Bar’s term of office,” a statement from the prime minister’s office said.

• Israel’s government is due to meet Sunday for a no confidence vote on the attorney general, a vocal critic of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, marking the start of a lengthy dismissal process, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). “We resolve to express our lack of confidence in the government’s legal adviser, Gali Baharav-Miara, due to her inappropriate behaviour and due to significant and prolonged differences between the government and the government’s legal adviser,” said a cabinet meeting agenda on the website of the prime minister’s office on Friday.

• Less than half of Palestinian Red Crescent emergency vehicles are operating due to fuel shortages in Gaza, reports Reuters. Of 53 vehicles in total, 23 remain operational after aid supplies into Gaza, including fuel, were halted in early March, Tommaso Della Longa from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies told reporters in Geneva.

• The situation in Gaza is gravely concerning with massive reductions in distribution of aid supplies, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa) said, reports Reuters. “This is the longest period since the start of conflict in October 2023 that no supplies whatsoever have entered Gaza. The progress we made as an aid system over the last six weeks of the ceasefire is being reversed,” Sam Rose from Unrwa told reporters, speaking from central Gaza.

• Hamas said on Friday it is still discussing US envoy Steve Witkoff’s proposal and various other ideas, with the aim of reaching a deal to release prisoners, end the war in Gaza, and achieve a withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian territory. Witkoff presented last week a “bridge” plan to extend the ceasefire in Gaza into April beyond Ramadan and Passover and allow time to negotiate a permanent cessation of hostilities.

• Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said on Friday he ordered the military to “seize more ground” in Gaza and warned of partial annexation if Hamas does not release hostages held in the Palestinian territory, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). “I ordered (the army) to seize more territory in Gaza … The more Hamas refuses to free the hostages, the more territory it will lose, which will be annexed by Israel,” he said in a statement in which he threatened “permanent occupation” of “buffer zones” inside the Gaza Strip.

• Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Friday that Tehran has no proxies in the region and that the groups it backs act independently, reports Reuters. US president Donald Trump said on Monday he would hold Iran responsible for any attacks carried out by the Yemeni Houthi group that it says Iran supports.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa), one of the largest providers of food aid in Gaza, warned on Friday it only had enough flour to distribute for the next six days.

“We can stretch that by giving people less, but we are talking days, not weeks,” Unrwa official Sam Rose told reporters in Geneva in an online briefing from central Gaza, reports Reuters.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza was once again alarming due to massive reductions in distribution of aid, Unrwa said.

“Six of 25 bakeries that the World Food Programme were supporting had to close down. There are larger crowds on streets outside bakeries,” Rose said.

“This is the longest period since the start of conflict in October 2023 that no supplies whatsoever have entered Gaza. The progress we made as an aid system over the last six weeks of the ceasefire is being reversed,” Rose added.

Israel’s supreme court on Friday froze the decision by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to sack Ronen Bar, the head of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, in order to review appeals filed against the dismissal.

“It is hereby ordered that a provisional measure be taken to stay the effect of the decision subject to the appeals until another decision is made,” the court said in a document obtained by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

It added that the freeze will remain in place until the appeals are presented to the court before 8 April.

The Israeli supreme court has stayed the government’s decision to sack Ronen Bar, the head of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

As we reported earlier, the head of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, has been dismissed, a week after Benjamin Netanyahu said he had lost confidence in him, and despite three days of protests against the move.

“The government unanimously approved prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to end ISA [Israeli Security Agency] director Ronen Bar’s term of office,” a statement from the prime minister’s office said.

According to the statement, Bar will leave his post when his successor is appointed, or by 10 April at the latest. You can read more on this story in Lorenzo Tondo’s latest piece:

France opposes any kind of annexation by Israel of the Gaza Strip or the West Bank, the French foreign minister said on Friday, after Israel’s defence minister threatened to annex parts of Gaza unless Hamas released Israeli hostages.

“France is opposed to any form of annexation whether it concerns the West Bank or the Gaza Strip. We have a very clear vision of the future of the region – a solution of two (Israeli and Palestinian) states living side-by-side in peace,” foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot told reporters in the eastern city of Dijon, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Agence France-Presse (AFP) has a bit more detail on Israeli defence minister Israel Katz’s orders to the military to “seize more ground” in Gaza.

“I ordered (the army) to seize more territory in Gaza … The more Hamas refuses to free the hostages, the more territory it will lose, which will be annexed by Israel,” he said in a statement.

Should Hamas not comply, Katz also threatened “to expand buffer zones around Gaza to protect Israeli civilian population areas and soldiers by implementing a permanent Israeli occupation of the area”.

Katz vowed to step up the assault, using civilian as well as military “pressure points” to defeat Hamas. He added:

We will intensify the fight with aerial, naval and ground shelling as well as by expanding the ground operation until hostages are freed and Hamas is defeated, using all military and civilian pressure points.”

He said these included implementing president Donald Trump’s proposal for the United States to redevelop Gaza as a Mediterranean resort after the relocation of its Palestinian inhabitants to other Arab countries.

On Thursday, the Israeli military said troops had begun “conducting ground activity” in the Shabura area of Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city near the Egyptian border. It said it had also closed off the territory’s main north-south route as it expanded the ground operations which resumed on Wednesday.

Israel’s government is due to meet Sunday for a no confidence vote on the attorney general, a vocal critic of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, marking the start of a lengthy dismissal process, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“We resolve to express our lack of confidence in the government’s legal adviser, Gali Baharav-Miara, due to her inappropriate behaviour and due to significant and prolonged differences between the government and the government’s legal adviser,” said a cabinet meeting agenda on the website of the prime minister’s office on Friday.

Less than half of Palestinian Red Crescent emergency vehicles are operating due to fuel shortages in Gaza, reports Reuters.

Of 53 vehicles in total, 23 remain operational after aid supplies into Gaza, including fuel, were halted in early March, Tommaso Della Longa from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies told reporters in Geneva.

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