The Israeli defense minister tried on Friday to turn up the pressure on Hamas to release more hostages, saying Israel was preparing to seize more territory in Gaza and intensify attacks by air, sea and land if the armed Palestinian group does not cooperate.
The remarks by the defense minister, Israel Katz, came days after a cease-fire that had been in place for more than two months was shattered with a renewed Israeli bombardment and more limited ground operations inside Gaza. More than 500 Palestinians have been killed since Israel restarted attacks on Tuesday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
“The more Hamas persists in its refusal, the more territory it will lose,” Mr. Katz said in demanding the release of more hostages.
He said the Israeli military could expand a security zone inside Gaza where its forces were already stationed and order more Palestinians to evacuate their homes. The captured territory would be held indefinitely by Israel, he added.
There were no immediate reports of new Israeli attacks with heavy casualties in Gaza on Friday. And mediators were still trying to prevent the new escalation of violence from snowballing back into a full-scale war.
Hamas said Friday that negotiations to return to the truce — which began in mid-January — were still ongoing. But it reiterated that any agreement to free more hostages would have to lead to a permanent end to the war, which Israel has been loath to commit to while the Palestinian militant group still is in charge of Gaza.
In Israel, domestic political turmoil over the war in Gaza intensified this week over a decision by Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, to fire Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet intelligence service. Protesters have criticized Mr. Netanyahu for what they call an attempt to purge the security establishment of those he perceives as disloyal.
On Friday, Israel’s Supreme Court issued an injunction freezing Mr. Bar’s dismissal until the justices could hear petitions that had been filed against it. The court ruled that the hearing would take place no later than April 8 — two days before the deadline for Mr. Bar’s exit.
Mr. Netanyahu’s allies quickly denounced the court for intervening as judicial overreach. If the court does strike down the government’s decision to dismiss the Shin Bet chief, the prime minister has yet to say whether he would uphold its ruling.
Over the past three days, Israeli forces have bombarded targets across Gaza, saying they were attacking Hamas sites and operatives. Israeli ground troops have seized a major corridor in central Gaza from which it withdrew during the cease-fire with Hamas, and they have expanded ground raids in northern and southern Gaza.
