Israel Unveils New Plan To Capture Gaza

The Israeli government approved plans to capture the entire Gaza Strip and remain in the territory for an indefinite period, officials said Monday, a major expansion of its war aims that is expected to trigger fierce international opposition, the Associated Press reported. 

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his administration had decided on a “powerful operation in Gaza” Monday after Israel’s military chief said the army was calling up tens of thousands of reservists for an expanded assault on the Palestinian enclave.  

Details of the plan have not been formally announced, and its exact timing and implementation have not been set. However, three officials with knowledge of the plan said it would include moving hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza and preventing Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid. 

Instead, aid would be managed by private security firms through centralized hubs at Gaza’s Kerem Shalom crossing. An internal memo circulated to aid organizations revealed plans to use facial recognition technology and centralized logistics hubs, where text alerts would notify civilians when to collect supplies.  

The new strategy comes as Israel continues its expanded offensive against Iran-backed Hamas following the collapse of a ceasefire in mid-March.  

Since then, Israeli forces have captured roughly 50 percent of the Palestinian enclave and halted nearly all humanitarian aid, creating what the United Nations and aid groups describe as the worst humanitarian crisis of the war. 

The conflict erupted Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas and its allies stormed into southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Israel’s subsequent airstrikes and ground invasion have displaced more than 90 percent of Gaza’s population and killed more than 52,000 combatants and civilians, according to Gazan health authorities. 

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities say that 59 hostages remain in Gaza, though about 35 are believed to be dead. 

The plan to capture the rest of Gaza sparked broad criticism domestically and internationally.  

The United Nations and aid groups rejected the proposal, warning that it violates humanitarian principles and risks forcibly displacing even more people. Hamas called Israel’s efforts to control aid “an extension of the starvation policy,” and accused it of using humanitarian supplies as political leverage, CBS News reported. 

The European Union also expressed concern, saying expanded Israeli operations would cause “further casualties and suffering.”  

Meanwhile, the families of the Israeli hostages have voiced their anger too, arguing that it jeopardizes efforts to secure the release of the captives. Some relatives are urging Israeli reservists to refuse duty “for moral and ethical reasons.” 

Resolute, Netanyahu said Gaza’s population “will be moved for its own protection.” 

Officials and observers suggested that the expanded offensive may also serve as a tactic to pressure Hamas into concessions in the stalled ceasefire negotiations. Currently, mediators are struggling to revive the talks, as Hamas continues to demand a full Israeli withdrawal and Israel insists it will continue fighting until Hamas is completely dismantled.  

Israel occupied Gaza for decades before it withdrew in 2005 and imposed a complete blockade on the territory after Hamas took power in 2007.