Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced Wednesday a significant escalation of Israel's renewed offensive in Gaza to capture "large areas," creating security buffers between the Palestinian enclave and Israel.

Israel’s defense minister said the military is taking control of significant territory to establish security zones.

Israel announced a major expansion of military operations in Gaza on Wednesday, saying large areas of the enclave would be seized and added to its security zones.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced Wednesday a major expansion of the military’s operation in Gaza involving the seizure of large areas of land that would be “incorporated into Israel’s security zones.

Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip is expanding to seize “large areas,” the defense minister said, while officials at hospitals inside the Palestinian territory said that Israeli strikes overnight and into Wednesday had killed more than 40 people,

Israel has been accused of executing Palestinian paramedics after bodies were found in a mass grave with their hands tied and bullet wounds to the head.

Israel announced a major expansion of military operations in Gaza on Wednesday, saying large areas of the enclave would be seized and added to its security zones, accompanied by a large-scale evacuation of the population.

Israel to seize territory in the war-torn Palestinian enclave as it prepares for more intense fighting with Hamas.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had seized a corridor of land would could split one of Gaza’s largest city’s from the rest of the enclave.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel is establishing a new security corridor across the Gaza Strip to pressure Hamas, suggesting it would cut off the southern city of Rafah, which Israel has ordered evacuated,

Israel is “carving up” the Gaza Strip in a bid to pressure Hamas into freeing hostages and will establish a new corridor, parallel to the Egyptian border, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said with the army escalating ground operations in the south.

Israel announced a major expansion of military operations in Gaza on Wednesday, saying large areas of the enclave would be seized and added to its security zones, accompanied by large-scale evacuations of the population.

Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian territory was “expanding to crush and clean the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure and capture large areas that will be added to the security zones of the State of Israel,

Israel is expanding its offensive in Gaza to seize “large areas” of the Strip, the country’s defence minister has said, as he called on Palestinians living in the territory to “expel Hamas and return all hostages”.

At least 19 people are reported killed in Jabalia as Israel's defence minister says it is expanding ground operations.