JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL

Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir on Sunday instructed the military to expand its ongoing ground offensive in the Gaza Strip to include additional areas in both the north and south amid a deepening humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged enclave.

In a statement, the Israeli military said Zamir gave the directive during a field visit and strategic assessment in southern Gaza, ordering “the expansion of the ground operation into additional areas in both the southern and northern parts of the Gaza Strip.”

The military claimed that the goal of the widened assault is "to create conditions for the return of the hostages and the decisive defeat of Hamas.”

The statement also said Zamir ordered the establishment of additional aid distribution centers.

However, the order comes amid what the UN and humanitarian groups have called a campaign of “deliberate starvation,” with Gaza’s 2.4 million residents pushed to the brink of famine due to Israel’s closure of aid crossings for more than 90 days, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office.

Since May 27, Israel has been operating its own humanitarian relief initiative through a body called the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” backed by Israel and the US but not recognized by the UN or major aid organizations.

This aid is being distributed in so-called “buffer zones” in southern Gaza, but the effort is reportedly collapsing. Distributions have repeatedly been halted due to massive crowds of starving civilians, and Israeli troops have opened fire on the gathered masses, causing deaths and injuries.

On Sunday morning, Israeli forces shot into crowds at a distribution site in Rafah, southern Gaza, killing nearly 50 Palestinians and injuring more than 200 others, many critically, according to the media office.

This escalation comes amid an intensifying Israeli campaign, dubbed “Operation Gideon's Chariots.” Israeli media reported on May 22 that the Israeli military plans to seize up to 75% of the Gaza Strip over the next two months.

Since Israel’s full closure of Gaza crossings on March 2, the territory has suffered an unprecedented humanitarian collapse—no food, no medicine, no fuel—while Israeli forces continue a scorched-earth genocide with mounting civilian casualties.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, Israel has pursued a devastating offensive in Gaza since October 2023, killing over 54,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Aid agencies have warned about the risk of famine among the enclave's population.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war crimes against civilians in the enclave.