New threat to annex parts of Gaza Strip

ISRAELI Defence Minister Israel Katz has threatened to annex parts of the Gaza Strip unless Hamas militants release the remaining Israeli hostages held in the war-battered Palestinian territory.

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The warning came as Israel pressed the renewed assault it launched on Tuesday, shattering the relative calm since a January 19 ceasefire.

APalestinian source close to the ceasefire talks said late on Friday that Hamas had received a proposal from mediators Egypt and Qatar for re-establishing a truce and exchanging hostages for Palestinian prisoners “according to a timeline to be agreed upon”.

The proposal “includes the entry of humanitarian aid” into Gaza, which has been blocked by Israel since March 2, the source said.

Israel resumed intensive bombing of Gaza on Tuesday, citing deadlock in indirect negotiations on the next steps in the truce after its first stage expired this month.

The territory's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed 11 people on Friday — three in pre-dawn strikes and eight more during the daytime. On Thursday, it reported a death toll of more than 500 since the bombardment resumed, one of the highest since the war began more than 17 months ago with Hamas's attack on Israel.

The UN warned that all of Gaza’s approximately one million children were facing “massive trauma” as fighting in the war-ravaged territory resumed, and amid dire aid shortages.

Humanitarians described an alarming situation in Gaza, amid a growing civilian death toll since Israel resumed aerial bombardment and ground operations this week after a six-week ceasefire.

In a statement Friday, Katz said: “I ordered (the army) to seize more territory in Gaza... The more Hamas refuses to free the hostages, the more territory it will lose, which will be annexed by Israel”.