The families of the remaining hostages in Gaza said they were “shocked and alarmed” to learn Monday that the Israeli military has expanded its operation to a city where their loved ones are believed to be held.
The Israel Defense Forces launched mass air raids and a ground operation in central Gaza targeting Deir al-Balah for the first time, the only remaining area of the Strip that has not suffered significant damage from the 21-month-old war.
Its exclusion from Israel’s previous bombing campaign is believed to be because Hamas may be holding some of the remaining 50 hostages in that area, with the captives’ loved ones fearing that the new military operation may put them in danger.
“The families demand that the prime minister, defense minister, chief of staff, and IDF spokesperson appear before them and the Israeli public this evening to clearly explain why the offensive in the Deir al-Balah area does not put the hostages at serious risk,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
“The people of Israel will not forgive anyone who knowingly endangered the hostages — both the living and the deceased. No one will be able to claim they didn’t know what was at stake,” the forum added.
At least 20 of the 50 hostages are believed to be alive, with no word yet on when they would be freed as the cease-fire talks between Hamas and Israel have yet to yield any results.
The Israeli military put out an order for all Palestinians to evacuate the city on Sunday, dropping thousands of leaflets into the area.
The air raids began early Monday, with Israeli tanks seen pushing into the city later as shells reportedly hit several houses and mosques in Deir al-Balah, according to medics operating in Gaza.
The Israeli military has yet to comment on the ongoing operation in the city.
The United Nations condemned the fighting in Deir al-Balah as it would force Palestinians to lose one of its last safe harbors from a war that has devastated the rest of the enclave.
“With this latest order, the area of Gaza under displacement orders or within Israeli-militarized zones has risen to 87.8%, leaving 2.1 million civilians squeezed into a fragmented 12% of the strip, where essential services have collapsed,” the UN said in a statement released by its Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza has complicated the cease-fire talks, with a Hamas official telling Reuters that the group was outraged over the constant wave of deaths at food distribution centers.
At least 67 were killed on Sunday after Israeli troops opened fire on a crowd of people waiting for a UN aid truck to enter Gaza, with the military claiming it was under “an immediate threat.”
With Post wires
