Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet has approved a phased expansion of military operations against Hamas in Gaza, according to Israeli public broadcaster Kan on Monday. The report cited sources familiar with the cabinet’s decision.
The Israeli military has already begun issuing tens of thousands of call-up orders for its reserve forces, looking to expand the Gaza campaign, army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said in a statement on Sunday.
In a video message posted on X on Sunday, hours after part of a missile launched from Yemen by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia fell close to Israel’s main gateway, Ben Gurion Airport, Netanyahu said he was convening the Israeli security cabinet to discuss “the next stage” of the war in Gaza.
“We are increasing the pressure with the goal of returning our people (hostages) and defeating Hamas,” Zamir told troops, according to the statement from the army.
Israel resumed ground operations in Gaza in March after the collapse of a U.S.-backed ceasefire that had halted fighting for two months.
New Plan For Aid Distribution
The security cabinet also approved a new plan for aid distribution in Gaza, Israel’s Ynet news website reported on Monday, though it was unclear when supplies would be let in to the enclave.
Israel is in control of around a third of Gaza’s territory and has faced growing international pressure to lift an aid blockade that it imposed in March.
Israel has defended the blockade by saying that Hamas has seized aid intended for civilians and kept it for its own fighters or sold it, charges that Hamas has denied.
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas attack on Oct 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and saw 251 taken hostage into Gaza in the deadliest day for Israel in its history.
The campaign has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities and devastated the Gaza Strip, leaving its 2.3 million population depending on aid supplies that have been dwindling rapidly since the blockade.
(With inputs from Reuters)
