Israeli security cabinet approves plan to occupy parts of Gaza, source says
LONDON -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet approved an operational plan for the expansion of the war in Gaza in a meeting late Sunday, a senior Israeli political source confirmed to ABC News.
The plan includes the occupation of more parts of Gaza paving the way for a full occupation of the strip, plus "moving" Palestinians to the south of Gaza, the source said. It also approves the "possibility" of allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza while "denying Hamas the ability to distribute humanitarian supplies," the source added.
The blueprint differs from its predecessor in that the Israel Defense Forces "is moving from the method of raids to the occupation of the territories and remaining in them," the source said.
The government, they added, will also continue to promote the plan set out by President Donald Trump "to enable the voluntary departure of Gazans" from the strip, the source said -- a proposal that Palestinian and human rights groups have equated to ethnic cleansing.
Trump said in February that displaced Palestinians would have no right to return to Gaza once resettled elsewhere. Also in February, the president suggested the U.S. would subsequently "take over" and "own" the Palestinian territory and oversee its reconstruction.
The United Nations and foreign governments pushed back on Trump's proposal. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, for example, said "it is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing." U.S. allies in Europe and the Middle East -- including Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia -- were among those to reject any Palestinian displacement from Gaza as "unacceptable."
Israel's new battle plan for Gaza was approved shortly after the IDF announced a major call up of reservists to support the expected broadening of military operations there.
The Palestinian territory has been devastated by more than 18 months of warfare, which began after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel that killed some 1,200 people and saw 253 others abducted as hostages.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry in the strip said Sunday that 52,535 people have been killed by Israeli action there since the war began, with another 118,491 people injured. The ministry's figures do not distinguish between combatants affiliated with Hamas and civilians.
A short-lived ceasefire -- which allowed for the release of 33 hostages from Gaza and nearly 1,800 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons -- collapsed in March when Israeli forces resumed their bombardment of Gaza.
Israel imposed a block on all humanitarian aid and other supplies entering Gaza on March 2 -- two weeks before resuming its offensive. On March 18, Netanyahu said Israel would return to operations with "full force," adding, "From now on, negotiations will only take place under fire."
Fifty-nine hostages -- 58 of whom were seized on Oct. 7 -- are believed to remain in Gaza, 24 of whom are presumed to be alive. Edan Alexander is the last American-Israeli hostage still thought to be alive.
The plan approved by the security cabinet on Sunday is intended "to defeat Hamas in Gaza and return the hostages," the senior political source told ABC News.
But the Hostages and Missing Families Forum -- made up of relatives of the hostages -- condemned the new plan "for giving up on the kidnapped and abandoning national and security resilience."
"The government admits this morning that it is choosing territories over kidnapped people, and this is against the will of over 70% of the people," the forum said in a statement. "This choice will be remembered as shameful for generations."
ABC News' Victoria Beaule contributed to this report.
