Israel approves plan to occupy Gaza, drastically scale up military offensive against Hamas
Israel has approved a new plan to drastically ramp up its military offensive against Hamas — including seizing the whole of Gaza and holding its territories, officials said Monday.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet approved the new war plans in an early morning vote just hours after the Israeli military chief said the army was calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers in a bid to defeat the terrorist group.The plan would be gradual and take months, and involves powerful strikes against Hamas targets.For weeks, Israel has been trying to ratchet up pressure on Hamas after high-profile ceasefire talks collapsed in mid-March.Details of the plans came as Israel’s IDF Chief of Staff Lt.Gen.
Eyal Zamir told troops earlier Sunday that the Jewish state was ramping up its operations in the Palestinian enclave, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan reported.“This week, we are issuing tens of thousands of call-up orders to our reservists in order to intensify and expand our operation in Gaza,” Zamir said.“We are increasing the pressure with the goal of bringing our people back and defeating Hamas.We will operate in additional areas and destroy all infrastructure above and below ground.”The new offensive plan could leave the door open for a ceasefire and hostage release deal talks ahead of President Trump’s visit to the region next week, Security Cabinet Minister Zeev Elkin said.“There is still a window of opportunity until President Trump concludes his visit to the Middle East, if Hamas understands we are serious,” Elkin told the outlet.Already in control of roughly a third of Gaza’s territory, Israel resumed ground operations in March after the collapse of the US-backed ceasefire that had halted fighting for two months.Israel has since imposed a total blockade of aid into the region.Elkin said that rather than launching raids in specific areas and then leaving them, Israeli forces will now hold the territories they seize — until H...