THE ISRAELI MILITARY announced today that it has taken over 30% of the Gaza Strip in Palestine, calling the seized territory a “buffer zone” and promising to keep troops there indefinitely. 

The seizure of Palestinian land follows a threat made by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz to annex parts of Gaza until the remaining 58 hostages held by Hamas and other armed groups are returned to Israel. 

Israel violated a shaky ceasefire in the besieged enclave on 18 March and has since displaced an estimated half a million people, according to the United Nations. To date, Israel’s war on Gaza that followed the Hamas-led attack of October 2023 has killed more than 51,000 Palestinians. 

The ceasefire had led to exchanges of captives between both sides and had largely halted fighting during the two-month period.

Today, Israeli strikes across Gaza killed another 22 people, according to local health officials, including a girl who was not yet one year old.

The Israeli military said today it had “achieved full operational control over several key areas and routes throughout the Gaza Strip”.

“Approximately 30% of the Gaza Strip’s territory is now designated as an Operational Security Perimeter.”

It added that Israeli air strikes had hit “approximately 1,200 terror targets” and that “more than 100 targeted eliminations have been carried out” since 18 March.

Prior to breaking the ceasefire, Israel had already halted deliveries of humanitarian aid to Gaza and Defence Minister Katz today promised to continue the siege. 

“Israel’s policy is clear: no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza, and blocking this aid is one of the main pressure levers preventing Hamas from using it as a tool with the population,” Katz said.

Katz also said Israeli forces “will remain in the security zones as a buffer between the enemy and (Israeli) communities in any temporary or permanent situation in Gaza – as in Lebanon and Syria”.

He said: “Unlike in the past, the (Israeli military) is not evacuating areas that have been cleared and seized.”

Israel has refused to withdraw from some areas in Lebanon following a ceasefire with the Hezbollah militant group last year, and it seized a “buffer zone” in southern Syria after the overthrow of President Bashar Assad.

Today, medical NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) decried the humanitarian situation brought about by Israel’s refusal to allow aid to enter Gaza. 

“Gaza has been turned into a mass grave of Palestinians and those coming to their assistance,” said MSF coordinator Amande Bazerolle.

“With nowhere safe for Palestinians or those trying to help them, the humanitarian response is severely struggling under the weight of insecurity and critical supply shortages, leaving people with few, if any, options for accessing care,” she said.

The President of the US Donald Trump has promised to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip and transform it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”, a plan enthusiastically supported by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

With reporting from AFP and Press Association