Gaza “totally destroyed” within months, Israeli Minister predicts

Shafaq News/ On Wednesday, at least 11 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza, as Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich outlined a plan to confine the Strip’s population to a narrow zone.

Israeli airstrikes targeted multiple locations across Gaza. Three people were killed, and others injured, in an attack on a house in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Another eight people died in a separate strike on a home in Khan Younis in the south, according to local authorities.

These deaths followed Tuesday's reports from Gaza’s civil defense agency, which confirmed 31 fatalities and numerous injuries in an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced families in the Bureij refugee camp.

Speaking at the "Settlements Conference" in the West Bank settlement of Ofra, Smotrich revealed plans to concentrate Gaza’s 2.3 million residents within a tightly controlled corridor stretching from Rafah to the Morag axis near the Egyptian border. The area, which he described as a “humanitarian zone,” would be free of Hamas and other militant groups. Smotrich also predicted that Israel would achieve total victory in Gaza within months, leaving the remainder of the territory “completely destroyed.”

The minister further indicated that Israel would apply sovereignty over the occupied West Bank during the current government’s term, which is set to last until October 2026 unless elections are held earlier.

Meanwhile, Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official, reiterated that the group would not resume negotiations with Israel while what he described as a “starvation war” continued.

Israel imposed a blockade on all humanitarian aid to Gaza nine weeks ago and later resumed its military operations, aiming to intensify pressure on Hamas regarding the fate of hostages still held in Gaza. The Israeli security cabinet recently approved an expanded offensive, which has intensified both ground and air operations across the Strip.

The escalation followed Israel's full-scale military resumption on March 18, ending a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal that had been in place since January 19. Since the resumption of hostilities, civilian casualties have surged, with women and children making up a significant proportion, according to medical sources. Gaza’s Health Ministry estimates that more than 52,560 people have been killed, and over 118,610 injured, since the war began in October 2023.