Jerusalem (AFP) – Israel's security cabinet approved the expansion of military operations in Gaza including the "conquest" of the Palestinian territory, an official said Monday, after the army called up tens of thousands of reservists for the offensive.
The plan, approved overnight, includes the holding of territories in the besieged Gaza Strip and comes alongside Israel's promotion of Gaza's residents to leave, the official said.
The Israeli official said the plan for expanded operations "will include, among other things, the conquest of the Gaza Strip and the holding of the territories, moving the Gaza population south for their protection".
The majority of Gaza's residents hail from the north of the territory, particularly Gaza City, and nearly all have been displaced at least once since the war began.
The cabinet, which includes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several ministers, "unanimously approved" the plan aimed at defeating Gaza's rulers Hamas and securing the return of hostages held in the territory.
The official source said the plan included "powerful strikes against Hamas", without specifying their nature.
On Sunday, army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said the military was calling up "tens of thousands" of reservists to expand its offensive.
An Israeli campaign group representing hostages' relatives said Monday that the new plan for expanded military operations in Gaza is "sacrificing" hostages held there.
"The plan approved by the cabinet deserves to be called the 'Smotrich-Netanyahu Plan' for sacrificing the hostages," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
The reference was to far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Netanyahu, who heads one of the most right-wing governments in Israeli history.
Alongside the plan to expand military operations, Prime Minister Netanyahu "continues to promote" a proposal by US President Donald Trump for the voluntary departure of Gazans to neighbouring countries, the source added.
Days after taking office in January, Trump floated a proposal to move Gaza's population out of the war-battered territory, suggesting that Egypt or Jordan could take them in.
Both countries, along with other Arab allies, governments around the world and the Palestinians themselves, have flatly rejected the notion, but the notion has been seized on by Israeli ministers.
Israel's security cabinet also approved overnight the "possibility of humanitarian distribution" in Gaza, which has been under full Israeli blockade since March 2.
It said there was "currently enough food" in the territory, although humanitarian organisations and UN agencies have warned of the blockade's dire consequences for Gaza's 2.4 million people.
The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has said it has depleted its food stocks and that the 25 bakeries it supports in Gaza have closed due to a lack of flour and fuel.
The cabinet "approved by a large majority the possibility of a humanitarian distribution, if necessary, to prevent Hamas from taking control of the supplies and to destroy its governance capabilities", the official said.
AFP photos published over the weekend showed crowds of Gazans, including children, piling up at a charity kitchen in the territory, desperate for a bite to eat.