Hamas is ready to release all remaining 59 hostages in Gaza in exchange for a permanent cease-fire with Israel, Palestinian officials said.

Israel’s defense minister said it was preparing to seize more territory in Gaza and intensify attacks unless the Palestinian group freed more of the dozens of remaining captives.

It came as rescuers said 34 people were killed in continued Israeli strikes on the territory, including on a UN building.

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

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.

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 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 PM says it is expanding ground operations to pressure Hamas.