At least 15 Palestinians killed as Israeli military expands Gaza security buffer operation

April 2 (UPI) -- 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 Israeli territory to the north and east and along the border with Egypt.

The operation to "crush and clean the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure," which got underway overnight, would require large numbers of Palestinians to be evacuated, said Katz who also called on the people of Gaza to turn on Hamas, free themselves from its grip, and hand back hostages.

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