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The Hostages and Missing Families Forum issued a statement on Wednesday expressing shock after Defense Minister Israel Katz said he approved expanding the IDF offensive on Gaza. “Its goal is to crush and cleanse the area of terrorists and terror infrastructure and to seize wide areas that will be annexed to Israel’s security zones.” Katz said of the offensive, adding a call for civilians in those areas to leave.
"Instead of getting the hostages out in an agreement that would end the war, the government is sending more troops back into the same areas they had fought in repeatedly," the statement said. "Has Israel decided to grab land at the expense of the hostages?"
"The families were horrified to hear Katz announce the expansion of the offensive to grab land. The government is responsible to free 59 hostages from Hamas captivity. We feel that objective was pushed down the list of priorities," the forum said.
"We demand that the prime minister, defense minister and chief of staff address the public at large and the families of hostages in particular, and explain how this military offensive serves the objective of returning the hostages and how they intend to prevent putting the hostages' lives in peril and risking the disappearance, forever, of the remains of those who were deal."
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In response Katz hurried to release a second statement claiming the purpose of the expanded offensive in Gaza is to pressure Hamas to release all of the hostages.
Heavy airstrikes in Gaza were reported overnight and ground troop movement began under intense artillery cover.