Madras Times - Israel launches expanded Gaza offensive aimed at defeating Hamas

The stepped-up campaign came as the humanitarian situation in Gaza continued to worsen amid an Israeli aid blockade, with one of the territory's last functioning hospitals warning it was no longer able to treat seriously wounded patients due to shortages of supplies and a nearby attack that damaged the premises.

The army announced in a post that it had begun the "initial stages" of the new offensive, part of "the expansion of the battle in the Gaza Strip, with the goal of achieving all the war's objectives, including the release of the abducted and the defeat of Hamas".

It said it had "launched extensive strikes and transferred forces to seize control of areas within the Gaza Strip".

Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP 10 bodies had been brought to hospitals after strikes on Saturday morning.

Three people were killed and four wounded in drone strikes east of the southern city of Khan Yunis, he said, while three others were killed and several wounded in the bombing of a house in Jabalia, in the north.

An attack on an apartment northwest of Khan Yunis killed three people, he added, while one person was killed and five wounded, "including a girl, a young woman and a pregnant woman", in a strike on a tent west of the same city.

The civil defence agency said Israeli strikes had killed at least 100 people the day before.

Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month truce in its war against Hamas triggered by the group's October 2023 attack.

The return to fighting has drawn international condemnation, with the UN human rights chief on Friday denouncing the renewed attacks and what he described as an apparent push to permanently displace Gaza's Palestinian inhabitants.

- 'Ethnic cleansing' -

"This latest barrage of bombs... and the denial of humanitarian assistance underline that there appears to be a push for a permanent demographic shift in Gaza that is in defiance of international law and is tantamount to ethnic cleansing," Volker Turk said in a statement.

The main Israeli campaign group representing the families of hostages said that by extending the fighting, Netanyahu was missing a "historic opportunity" to return their loved ones through diplomacy.

Hamas on Friday demanded the United States press Israel to lift the aid blockade in return for a US-Israeli hostage recently released by the group.

Edan Alexander, the last living hostage with US nationality, was freed after direct engagement with the Trump administration that left Israel sidelined.

Senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said that as part of the group's understanding with Washington regarding Alexander's release, Hamas was "awaiting and expecting the US administration to exert further pressure" on Israel to restore aid.

Israel says its decision to cut off aid to Gaza was intended to force concessions from Hamas, which still holds dozens of Israeli hostages seized during the attack that sparked the war.

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced increasing pressure to lift the blockade, as UN agencies warn of critical shortages of food, clean water, fuel and medicines.

- 'People are starving' -

Marwan Sultan, director of the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, said the situation there on Saturday was "catastrophic after its surroundings were targeted again this morning, causing the collapse of ceilings and cracks in the walls".

"The operating rooms and intensive care units are completely full and we are unable to receive any more critical cases," he said, adding there was "a severe shortage of blood units, medicines, medical and therapeutic supplies, and surgical procedures".

US President Donald Trump acknowledged on Friday that "a lot of people are starving".

"We're looking at Gaza. And we're going to get that taken care of," Trump told reporters in Abu Dhabi, on a regional tour that excluded key ally Israel.

The Arab League is to meet in Baghdad on Saturday to discuss regional crises, with Gaza expected to be high on the agenda.

The Hamas attack of October 7, 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Of the 251 hostages taken during the attack, 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said 2,985 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 53,119.

C.Chaudhary--MT