Israel has approved a sweeping new military plan to seize full control of the Gaza Strip, in a move that is set to deepen the territory’s already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
The newly sanctioned offensive, greenlit by the Israeli cabinet early Monday, involves the “capture and holding” of Gaza territory, officials said. Tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up, as the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) prepare for an intensified campaign against Hamas.
Civilians in northern Gaza will be forced southwards, with aid deliveries redirected to Israeli-controlled hubs to prevent supplies from reaching Hamas—a move the UN has strongly condemned.
“This appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic,” a UN spokesperson said, warning the plan risks leaving Gaza’s most vulnerable without access to essentials.
The operation follows over a year of relentless war, triggered by Hamas’s October 2023 attack that left 1,200 Israelis dead and around 250 taken hostage. Since then, more than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s health authorities.
Despite the heavy toll, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to achieve his twin goals: dismantling Hamas and bringing all hostages home. Officials now claim this plan is crucial to those aims—even as it pushes hundreds of thousands of Palestinians further into a worsening humanitarian disaster.
The fragile ceasefire that briefly paused hostilities earlier this year has since collapsed, with no clear end to the fighting in sight.
