Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that an expanded offensive against the Palestinian militant group Hamas would be "intense," after his security cabinet approved plans that could include seizing the Gaza Strip and controlling humanitarian aid.
However, an Israeli military official said the operation would not be launched before US President Donald Trump finishes his visit to the Middle East next week.
The decision, after weeks of attempts to reach a ceasefire with Hamas, underscores the threat that the war, which is increasing international pressure on Israel amid dwindling support at home, could continue with no end in sight, Reuters writes.
According to a report by Israeli public broadcaster Kan, citing officials familiar with the details, the new plan is gradual and will take months, with forces initially focusing on one area of the devastated enclave.
Netanyahu said in a video message that the operation would be "intensive" and would involve relocating a larger number of Palestinians in Gaza "for their own security."
He stressed that Israeli troops would not follow the current tactic of short-term incursions by units operating outside Gaza. "The intention is the opposite," he said, echoing comments by other Israeli officials who said Israel would hold on to the territory it has captured.
Israeli troops have already occupied an area that makes up about a third of the Gaza Strip, displaced its population and set up observation posts and checkpoints in the cleared territories that the military describes as security zones, but the new plan goes even further.
An Israeli official said the new offensive would encompass the entire territory of the Gaza Strip, displacing the civilian population south and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching Hamas.
The military official added that the distribution of aid, which has so far been handled by international humanitarian organizations and UN agencies, will be taken over by private companies that will distribute aid in the southern Rafah area after the offensive begins.
The Israeli military, which showed no desire to occupy Gaza during the war, refused to comment on the statements made by government officials and politicians.
Israel resumed its offensive in March after a US-backed ceasefire that had halted fighting for two months collapsed. It has since imposed an aid blockade on the enclave, prompting warnings from the UN and international organisations that 2,3 million people are at risk of famine.
The military official said Israel would maintain security zones along the Gaza border because they are crucial to protecting Israeli communities near the enclave. But he added that there was a “window of opportunity” to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal during Trump’s visit to the region next week.
"If there is no agreement on the hostages, Operation 'Gideon's Chariot' will begin with great intensity and will not stop until all objectives are achieved," he said.
Hamas official Mahmoud Mardavi rejected what he called "pressure and blackmail."
"There is no deal other than a comprehensive one, which includes a complete ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from Gaza, the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and the release of all prisoners on both sides," he said.
Israel has yet to present a clear vision for post-war Gaza, following a campaign that displaced most of its population and left the enclave dependent on aid that has become increasingly scarce since the blockade began.
If there is no deal on the hostages, Operation Gideon's Chariot will begin with great intensity and will not stop until all objectives are achieved, an Israeli military official said.
The ministers said that aid distribution could not be left to international organizations, which they said were allowing Hamas to seize supplies intended for civilians. Officials were therefore considering plans to have private contractors handle the distribution, through what the UN describes as Israeli aid delivery centers.
Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, wrote yesterday on the X network that Israel is demanding that the UN and NGOs shut down their aid distribution system in Gaza.
The decision to expand the operation was immediately welcomed by Israeli hard-rightists in the government who have long advocated the complete takeover of Gaza and the permanent displacement of its population, in line with the "Riviera" plans outlined by Trump in February.
"We will finally conquer Gaza. We are no longer afraid of the word 'occupation,'" said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotric.
However, polls show that the Israeli public increasingly wants an agreement to be reached on the return of the remaining 59 hostages still held in Gaza, and dozens of protesters clashed with police in front of parliament.
“All the families are exhausted,” said Rabbi Chen, whose son Itay was killed in a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. “All the families are scared about this new maneuvering because there is no guarantee that it will get us where the families want us to be.”
Given the threats Israel receives from the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, who fired a rocket that landed near Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday, the unstable Syria in the neighborhood and the tense situation in the occupied West Bank, the capacity for long-term military operations faces serious limitations, Reuters estimates.
We will finally conquer Gaza. We are no longer afraid of the word "occupation," said Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, welcoming plans to expand the offensive.
The Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, General Eyal Zamir, said on Sunday that the army has already begun issuing tens of thousands of calls for the mobilization of reserve personnel.
A government spokesman said the reservists were being called up to expand operations in Gaza, not to occupy it.
Zamir, who has been in office since March, has resisted demands from government hardliners seeking a complete suspension of aid and told ministers that aid must be made available soon, according to a report by Khan.
The war broke out after a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, in which, according to Israeli data, 1.200 people were killed, mostly civilians, while 251 people were taken hostage in Gaza.
Israel's ground and air campaign has since killed more than 52.000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and left much of Gaza in ruins.
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