Israel 'dissecting' Gaza to force Hamas to free hostages: Netanyahu

It is also seizing territory and continuing lethal strikes, including on a UN building

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JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on April 2 that the military was "dissecting" the Gaza Strip and seizing territory to pressure Hamas into freeing hostages still held in the territory.

It came as rescuers said 34 people were killed in continued Israeli strikes on the territory, including on a UN building.

The military is "dissecting the (Gaza) Strip and increasing the pressure step by step so that (Hamas) will return our hostages", Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement, adding that Israel "is seizing territory, striking terrorists and destroying infrastructure".

He added that the army is taking control of the "Morag Axis", a strip of land that is expected to run between the southern governorates of Khan Yunis and Rafah.

The name of the axis refers to a former Israeli settlement that was evacuated when Israel unilaterally pulled out of Gaza in 2005.

Defence Minister Israel Katz earlier said Israel would bolster its military presence in the Palestinian territory to "destroy and clear the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure".

The operation would "seize large areas that will be incorporated into Israeli security zones" already under military control, he said in a statement, without specifying how much territory.

But Hamas has remained defiant and rejected the latest Israeli proposal on a Gaza truce, two officials from the movement told AFP on April 2.