Israel’s defense minister says the country's military operation in the Gaza Strip is expanding to seize “large areas” of the Palestinian territory.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced Wednesday a significant escalation of Israel's renewed offensive in Gaza to capture "large areas," creating security buffers between the Palestinian enclave and Israel.

Israel Katz warned that “large areas” of the enclave would be seized and added to security zones controlled by the military.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced a major expansion of the military operation in Gaza on Wednesday and said large areas of the enclave would be seized and added to the security zones of Israel.

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,

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.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz says the military will expand its operation in Gaza and seize "large areas" of the territory. In a statement on Wednesday, Katz said the expanded operation aimed to "destroy and clear the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure".

The Israeli military has issued sweeping evacuation orders covering most of Rafah — the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip — during Eid al-Fitr, a normally festive Muslim holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

The Israeli military indicated on Monday it could soon launch another major offensive in Rafah and ordered most of the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip evacuated. Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas and renewed its air and ground war earlier this month.