Israel expands Gaza buffer zone amid Passover offensive

Israel has expanded its buffer zone inside the Gaza Strip as part of a broader military campaign aimed at pressuring Hamas into releasing hostages.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that “hundreds of thousands of [Palestinian] residents have already evacuated,” and “tens of percent of Gaza’s territory have become part of Israel’s security areas.”

“The main goal is to exert heavy pressure on Hamas for it to return to the framework of a hostage release,” Katz added. “As long as Hamas persists in its refusal, the IDF activity will intensify.”

Over the weekend and into Monday, the Israel Defense Forces carried out extensive strikes across Gaza, attacking more than 90 targets. These included Hamas command centers, rocket launch sites, weapons storage facilities and armed cells.

In Rafah and along the Morag Corridor, IDF ground forces killed several terrorists and destroyed tunnel shafts and weapons caches. In the Tel al-Sultan and al-Shaboura neighborhoods of Rafah, troops uncovered additional Hamas infrastructure, including underground passageways used for transporting fighters and supplies.

In one operation in the Shaboura area, troops dismantled a 20-meter-deep and several-hundred-meter-long tunnel used as a gathering point for Hamas operatives. The tunnel connected to other tunnel routes in the area.

Elsewhere in southern Gaza, soldiers located a Hamas weapons cache hidden within a former school. Among the weapons found were mortars, hand grenades, explosives and other munitions.

One notable operation in northern Gaza involved Yahalom, the IDF’s special forces engineering unit, which destroyed a 1.2-kilometer tunnel buried 20 meters underground. Nearby, soldiers discovered a weapons depot containing explosives, anti-tank systems and other arms. According to the IDF, a drone later spotted terrorists planting an explosive device near Israeli forces, prompting a precision airstrike that neutralized the threat.

In another incident, troops in northern Gaza identified a terrorist ambush several hundred meters away and coordinated with the IAF to eliminate the operatives.

On Sunday, Israeli aircraft also attacked a Hamas command center in Deir al-Balah in the central Strip, which, according to military intelligence, was being used to coordinate attacks. Earlier, the IDF confirmed it had targeted a Hamas facility operating within Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City. The military said that “precautions were taken to minimize civilian harm,” and that residents had been warned in advance of the strike.

Over the past 24 hours, the Israeli Air Force struck approximately 35 additional terrorist targets throughout Gaza, including a weapons manufacturing site in the south and a rocket launching site aimed at Israeli territory.

In a statement, the IDF said, “The Hamas terrorist organization systematically violates international law by using civilian infrastructure and exploiting the population as human shields.”

At 3:58 p.m. on Sunday, a projectile fired from Gaza was intercepted over nearby Kibbutz Re’im. No injuries were reported.

As Israel marked the start of Passover, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir held a seder with soldiers from the Nahal Reconnaissance Battalion at the Mevo Dotan post in northwestern Samaria. The battalion has suffered 27 casualties since Oct. 7. During the gathering, Zamir praised the troops’ bravery and reaffirmed the army’s mission.

“Our freedom is bought with blood,” Zamir said. “Everything we are doing in Gaza is to free the hostages and dismantle Hamas. This is our duty—freedom.”