Defence minister issues threat as IDF intensifies offensive with ‘non-stop’ overnight attacks across territory

Israel’s defence minister said on Friday he had instructed the military to “seize more ground” in Gaza and threatened to annex part of the territory unless Hamas released 59 Israeli hostages still held by the Islamist militant group in the devastated territory.

Israel Katz’s warning came as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intensified the new offensive launched on Tuesday, when a wave of airstrikes shattered the truce that had brought a fragile and relative calm since mid-January.