JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s defense minister said on 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.
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes across Gaza 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, embraced her daughter, still wearing a bloodied blue dress, before she was taken for burial.
Israeli forces have taken over more than half of Gaza in a renewed campaign to pressure Hamas militants 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 Syrian 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.
Lebanese president Joseph Aoun said that Israel’s continued presence in some areas in Lebanon was “hindering" the Lebanese army’s full deployment as required by the ceasefire negotiated with Israel.
Two Israeli drones strikes on Wednesday in southern Lebanon killed two people, the health ministry said. The U.N. said Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed more than 70 civilians since the ceasefire took effect in November.
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."
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 the family was awakened by a blast overnight. When he raced to the roof, he found his son, Mohammed, sobbing.
“I found her like this,” he said as he held the girl's body.
Associated Press footage showed the mother, wrapped in bandages, 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.
Hundreds of thousands are crammed into squalid tent camps with dwindling food as an aid blockade in Gaza imposed by Israel entered its seventh week. The U.N. humanitarian office, or OCHA, said Wednesday that humanitarian workers on the ground are reporting a rise in acute malnutrition across the Gaza Strip.
Water has become increasingly scarce, with Palestinians desperately lining up in front of water trucks clutching containers and jerrycans. Omar Shatat, deputy director of Gaza's Coastal Water Utility, told The Associated Press that each person gets six to seven liters of potable water each day, calling it a “water catastrophe.”
”Water, it’s the simplest thing," said Nevin Al-Dahloul, a displaced woman from Beit Lahiya. “We’re not asking for luxury, it’s our most basic right.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to annihilate Hamas and return the 59 hostages still in Gaza — 24 of whom are believed to still be alive.
On Wednesday, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group released a video of hostage Rom Braslavski. It was the first sign of life of him, though recently released hostages had said they had seen him in captivity. In the video, which was filmed under duress, Braslavski says he was held in terrible conditions and pleads with Netanyahu to stop the war and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Netanyahu also has said that Israel will 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 the truce and to cut off 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 leads the most nationalist and religious government in Israel's history, and his coalition partners have called for the reestablishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza.
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Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.
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Isaac Scharf, Wafaa Shurafa And Samy Magdy, The Associated Press
