Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip is expanding to seize “large areas,” the defense minister said, while officials at hospitals inside the Palestinian territory said that Israeli strikes overnight and into Wednesday had killed more than 40 people, nearly a dozen of them children.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced Wednesday a major expansion of the military’s operation in Gaza involving the seizure of large areas of land that would be “incorporated into Israel’s security zones.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had seized a corridor of land would could split one of Gaza’s largest city’s from the rest of the enclave.

Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip is expanding to seize “large areas” of the Gaza Strip, the defense minister said Wednesday. Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian territory was “expanding to crush and clean the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure and capture large areas that will be added to the security zones of the State of Israel,

Israel's defense minister said expanding operations will "crush and clean the area" of militants, despite children making up many of the strikes' victims.

Israel announced a major expansion of military operations in Gaza on Wednesday, saying large areas of the enclave would be seized and added to its security zones, accompanied by a large-scale evacuation of the population.

Israel has been accused of executing Palestinian paramedics after bodies were found in a mass grave with their hands tied and bullet wounds to the head.

At least 19 people are reported killed in Jabalia as Israel's defence minister says it is expanding ground operations.