Israeli army turns 30 percent of Gaza into buffer zone as half a million displaced, scores killed

The Israeli army announced that its forces had seized control of approximately 30 percent of the Gaza Strip, turning it into an "operational security perimeter", as Gaza's civil defence agency said at least 37 people, most of them in encampments for displaced civilians, had been killed in Israeli attacks on Thursday.

The army also claimed in a statement that it had attacked around 1,200 "terrorist targets" from the air and carried out over 100 other targeted operations, since violating the ceasefire agreement and resuming the war on the Strip on 18 March.

It added that the expanded buffer zone has allowed Israel to "achieve full operational control over several key areas and routes throughout the Gaza Strip".

Meanwhile, the UN said an estimated 500,000 Palestinians have been displaced since the end of the Gaza ceasefire, when Israel resumed military attacks on the devastated Palestinian territory.

"Our humanitarian partners estimate that since March 18, about half a million people have been newly displaced or uprooted once more," Stephanie Tremblay, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said on Wednesday.

'Smaller and more isolated'

Israel further said that it would continue to prevent the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave, despite increased warnings from rights groups over famine-like conditions, with essential supplies quickly running out.

"Israel’s policy is clear: No humanitarian aid will enter Gaza," Israeli defence minister Israel Katz reiterated, adding that blocking aid is "one of the main pressure tools" used against Hamas.

The military was also leaving Gaza "smaller and more isolated," he continued.

An Israeli activist group, Breaking the Silence, condemned the comments in a post on X, stating that the so-called "buffer zone" was "ethnic cleansing on a massive scale".

The dwindling resources in Gaza, coupled with a blockade on aid, have made acute malnutrition surge among children, the UN’s humanitarian affairs agency OCHA said.

The organisation said last month that at least 3,696 Palestinian children were newly diagnosed with acute malnutrition.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office also issued a statement on Wednesday evening, saying he had instructed his negotiating team to continue efforts to push for the release of captives being held in Gaza.

It added that Netanyahu had conducted a "situation assessment" by phone with the negotiating team and heads of the security establishment, directing them to continue "steps to advance the release of captives".

Dozens more Gazans killed in strikes

Gaza's civil defence agency said on Thursday that 37 people had been killed in Israeli strikes, most of them displaced people sheltering in tents in the devastated territory.

Survivors described a large explosion at the densely packed encampment that set multiple tents ablaze.

"We were sitting peacefully in the tent, under God's protection, when we suddenly saw something red glowing -- and then the tent exploded, and the surrounding tents caught fire," Israa Abu al-Rus told AFP.

"This is supposed to be a safe area in Al-Mawasi, and the place just exploded. We fled the tent towards the sea and saw the tents burning."

After Israel declared Al-Mawasi a safe zone in December 2023, tens of thousands of Palestinians flocked to its sand dunes along the Mediterranean coast seeking refuge from Israeli bombardment.

But the area has since been hit by repeated Israeli strikes.

Medical sources in Gaza also said that Israel has killed at least 35 people early on Wednesday.

Israel intensified attacks on the Gaza Strip on Thursday morning, with an Israeli gunboat stationed off the territory’s coast firing on the west of Gaza City, before more attacks struck other areas, including Rafah and Khan Younis.

Tributes have also poured in for a Palestinian journalist named Fatima Hassouneh and 10 other members of her family who were killed by an Israeli air strike targeting their home in Gaza City on Wednesday. 

Gaza’s government media office said over 50,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in the Strip since October 2023, with the toll not including the thousands trapped under the rubble who are presumed dead.

Agencies contributed to this report.