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LAST UPDATE | 21 Mar
ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER Israel Katz has threatened to annex parts of Gaza if Hamas does not release the remaining hostages.
“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,” Katz said in a statement.
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”.
“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,” Katz said.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed 11 people today – three in pre-dawn strikes and eight more during the daytime – bring the death toll since Tuesday to 504. Before the resumption of Israeli attacks, more than 48,000 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza since the October 2023 Hamas-led attack.
After retaking part of the strategic Netzarim corridor that divides Gaza’s north from south, Israeli troops moved towards the northern town of Beit Lahiya and the southern border city of Rafah yesterday.
The military said it had resumed enforcing a blockade on northern Gaza, including Gaza City.
“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,” Katz said.
Israel’s military said it intercepted two projectiles fired from northern Gaza today, after air raid sirens sounded in the southern city of Ashkelon.
Yesterday, sirens went off in central Israel as Hamas said it fired rockets at Tel Aviv in its first military response to Israel’s violation of the ceasefire on Tuesday. The Israeli military said it intercepted one rocket, while two hit an uninhabited area.
Asked about Katz’s threat, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said:
“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 states living side-by-side in peace.”
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has said the renewed attacks are intended to put pressure on Hamas to release the 58 hostages remaining in the territory. But the families of those still held captive in Gaza have accused Netanyahu of “sacrificing” their loved ones.
Thousands have taken to the streets in protest in Israel, at first in opposition to the resumption of the war while hostages remain in Gaza, but last night they were also outraged by Netanyahu’s decision to fire the head of the country’s internal intelligence service.
In rare criticism of Netanyahu, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said yesterday that he was worried the resumption of strikes in a time of crisis could undermine “national resilience”.
Herzog said it was “unthinkable to resume fighting while still pursuing the sacred mission of bringing our hostages home”.
In Israel, the supreme court froze Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to sack the head of Shin Bet, the country’s domestic intelligence agency, which led to huge protests in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu dismissed Ronen Bar this morning, days after saying he no longer trusted him, and amid fallout from a report on the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel.
The move has also been described as an effort to oust the head of an agency investigating alleged payments made to Netanyahu and others by Qatar, which Israelis refer to as “Qatargate”.
The government’s decision to sack Bar was met with outrage from members of the public and opposition leader Yair Lapid’s centre-right party, which filed an appeal with the supreme court, and denounced what it called “a decision based on flagrant conflict of interest”.
The decision to sack Bar came “as Israel’s Security Agency is currently investigating the prime minister’s close associates… on suspicion of receiving money from entities directly linked to and acting on behalf of the State of Qatar”, the opposition appeal read.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel described the move as “an unlawful decision… posing a real risk to the national security of the State of Israel”.
Several thousand people braved bad weather last night to demonstrate outside Netanyahu’s private residence in Jerusalem and then the Israeli parliament, where ministers were meeting.
On Sunday, Netanyahu cited an “ongoing lack of trust” as the reason for moving to dismiss Bar, who joined the agency in 1993.
Critics say the move to dismiss Bar is a power grab by the Prime Minister against an independent-minded civil servant.
Bar, meant to end his tenure only next year, was appointed Shin Bet chief in October 2021 by the previous Israeli government that briefly forced Netanyahu from power between June 2021 and December 2022.
His relations with Netanyahu were strained even before the unprecedented October Hamas attack which sparked the war in Gaza, notably over proposed judicial reforms that had split the country.
Relations worsened after the 4 March release of the internal Shin Bet report on the Hamas attack.
It acknowledged the agency’s own failure in preventing the attack, but also said “a policy of quiet had enabled Hamas to undergo massive military buildup”.
Bar had already hinted that he would resign before the end of his term, taking responsibility for his agency’s failure to prevent the attack.
In a letter made public yesterday, Bar said Netanyahu’s arguments were “general, unsubstantiated accusations that seem to hide the motivations behind the decision to terminate (his) duties”.
He wrote the real motives were based on “personal interest” and intended to “prevent investigations into the events leading up to 7 October and other serious matters” being looked at by the Shin Bet.
He referred to the “complex, wide-ranging and highly sensitive investigation” involving people close to Netanyahu who allegedly received money from Qatar, a case dubbed “Qatargate” by the media.
With reporting from AFP and Press Association
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