Israel plans to seize Gaza under expanded offensive
Israel plans to seize Gaza under expanded offensive
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a new offensive in Gaza will be an intensive military operation. File photo: Reuters
Jamie Clarke reports
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday an expanded offensive against Palestinian militant group Hamas would be "intensive" after his security cabinet approved plans that may include seizing the Gaza Strip and controlling aid.
However an Israeli defence official said the operation would not be launched before US President Donald Trump concludes his visit next week to the Middle East.
Netanyahu said in a video message the operation would be "intensive" and would see more Palestinians in Gaza moved "for their own safety".
He said Israeli troops would not follow previous tactics based on short raids by forces based outside Gaza. "The intention is the opposite," he said, echoing comments from other Israeli officials who have said Israel would hold on to the ground it has seized.
Israeli troops have already taken over an area amounting to around a third of Gaza, displacing the population and building watchtowers and surveillance posts on cleared ground the military has described as security zones, but the new plan would go further.
One Israeli official said the newly approved offensive would seize the entire territory of the Gaza Strip, move its civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas' hands.
Israel resumed its offensive in March after the collapse of a US-backed ceasefire that had halted fighting for two months.
It has since imposed an aid blockade, drawing warnings from the UN that the 2.3 million population faces imminent famine. (Reuters)
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