JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL

Israel’s minister of settlements called on Monday for expanding the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, even if it puts the lives of Israeli hostages held by Hamas at risk.

“There’s an entire area — around 25%, according to Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir — that the army has classified as off-limits due to the presence of hostages. But you can’t win a war like this. It’s just not logical,” Orit Strock of the far-right Religious Zionism Party told the ultra-Orthodox radio station Kol Berama.

She urged the army to launch a “decisive battle” in areas previously avoided due to assessments that Israeli captives may be held there.

Asked whether such a military operation might result in hostages being harmed or killed, she replied: “We must do everything possible to avoid that, but yes, it’s possible.”

The Israeli army says it currently controls about 75% of Gaza, while Palestinians have been pushed into the remaining 25% of the enclave — although the UN estimates the actual area is closer to 14%.

Strock claimed that increased military pressure was “essential” to force the Palestinian group Hamas into releasing the Israeli hostages.

Her comments triggered outrage among families of the captives, who issued a statement condemning the minister.

“Strock is leading the sacrifice of our loved ones and the values on which the State of Israel was founded,” they said.

“This is all in the name of an endless, senseless war — a war that must end for the sake of the entire Jewish people.”

Hamas has repeatedly expressed its readiness to release all Israeli captives in a single deal, in exchange for an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 59,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages and the spread of diseases.

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 on the enclave.