Days after the United Nations accused Israel of killing 15 humanitarian workers in Gaza, officials who recovered the bodies or carried out the autopsies said some of the rescue workers were shot multiple times before being buried in a mass grave.

The bodies of more than a dozen aid workers have been recovered in southern Gaza from what a United Nations agency described as a “mass grave,” a week after they went missing following attacks by Israeli forces.

A top official said “large areas” of the enclave would be seized, suggesting that Israel intended to hold on to more territory.

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

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.