JERUSALEM – Israel’s defense minister said Wednesday that troops will remain in so-called security zones in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria indefinitely, remarks that could further complicate talks with Hamas over a ceasefire and hostage release.
Israeli strikes across Gaza meanwhile killed another 22 people, according to local health officials, including a girl who was not yet a year old. The girl’s mother, who was wounded in the strike, embraced her daughter, still wearing a bloodied blue and white dress, before she was taken for burial.
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Israeli forces have taken over more than half of Gaza in a renewed campaign to pressure Hamas to release hostages after Israel ended their ceasefire last month. Israel has also refused to withdraw from some areas in Lebanon following a ceasefire with the Hezbollah militant group last year, and it seized a buffer zone in southern Syria after rebels overthrew President Bashar Assad in December.
“Unlike in the past, the (Israeli military) is not evacuating areas that have been cleared and seized,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement. The military “will remain in the security zones as a buffer between the enemy and (Israeli) communities in any temporary or permanent situation in Gaza — as in Lebanon and Syria.”
The Palestinians and both neighboring countries view the presence of Israeli troops as military occupation in violation of international law. Hamas has said it will not release dozens of remaining hostages without a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a lasting ceasefire.
“They promised that the hostages come first. In practice, Israel is choosing to seize territory before the hostages," the main organization representing families of the hostages said in a statement.
“There is one solution that is desirable and feasible, and that is the release of all the hostages at once as part of an agreement, even at the cost of ending the war," it said.
Israel says it must maintain control of what it refers to as security zones to prevent a repeat of Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack, in which thousands of militants stormed into southern Israel from Gaza, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants but says women and children make up more than half of the dead. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.
‘Every day — children’
Ahlam Seiam’s family had planned to celebrate her first birthday later this month. Then the Israeli strike hit the building where they had pitched a tent on the roof.
Her grandfather, Nashat, said Wednesday that the family was awakened by a loud blast overnight. When he raced up to the roof, he found his son, Mohammed, sobbing.
“I found her like this,” he said as he held the body of his granddaughter.
Associated Press footage showed the mother, wrapped in bandages after being wounded in the strike, cradling her daughter one last time in the hospital bed.
Israel says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in residential areas. The grandfather said there were no militants in the area of the strike. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
The family had fled to Khan Younis from the southern city of Rafah after Israel renewed its offensive last month. “Wherever you go, death will catch up with you. There is no escape,” the grandfather said.
Nermin Zughrub, Ahlam’s aunt, scrolled through photos of the girl on her phone.
“If the world doesn’t wake up today, when will it?” she said. “Every day — massacres. Every day — children.”
Much of Gaza is uninhabitable
Israel's bombardment and ground operations have left vast areas of the territory uninhabitable and have displaced around 90% of the population of roughly 2 million Palestinians. Many have been displaced multiple times, and hundreds of thousands are crammed into squalid tent camps with dwindling food after Israel sealed off the territory from all imports more than a month ago.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to annihilate Hamas and return the 59 hostages still in Gaza — 24 of whom are believed to be alive. He has said that Israel will then implement U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal for the resettlement of much of Gaza's population in other countries through what Netanyahu refers to as “voluntary emigration.”
Palestinians and Arab countries have universally rejected Trump’s proposal, which human rights experts say would likely violate international law. Palestinians in Gaza say they don’t want to leave, and fear another mass expulsion like the one that occurred during the war surrounding Israel’s creation in 1948.
The Trump administration, which took credit for helping to broker the ceasefire, has expressed full support for Israel's decision to end it and to cut off all humanitarian aid. Trump's Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, has been trying to broker a new ceasefire more favorable to Israel, but those efforts appear to have made little progress.
Netanyahu helms the most nationalist and religious government in Israel's history, and his coalition partners have called for the reestablishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza.
Israel withdrew its forces from Gaza and dismantled its settlements there in 2005, but it maintained control of most of Gaza's land border, coastline and airspace, and joined Egypt in imposing a blockade after Hamas seized power in 2007.
Israel seized Gaza, east Jerusalem and the West Bank — territories the Palestinians want for a future state — in the 1967 Mideast war. It also captured the Golan Heights from Syria in that conflict and annexed it in a move not recognized by any country except for the United States.
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Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip and Magdy from Cairo.
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