Israeli leadership votes to expand Gaza ground offensive

The Associated Press

· Posted: May 05, 2025 6:17 AM EDT | Last Updated: 13 minutes ago

Israel approved plans connected Monday to seizure the full Gaza Strip and stay successful the territory for an unspecified magnitude of time, 2 Israeli officials said, successful a determination that if implemented would vastly grow Israel's operations successful the Palestinian territory and apt bring fierce planetary opposition.

Israel's furniture ministers approved the program successful an aboriginal greeting vote, hours aft the Israeli subject main said the service was calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers. The caller plan, which the officials said was meant to assistance Israel execute its warfare aims of defeating Hamas and freeing hostages held successful Gaza, besides would propulsion hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to confederate Gaza, likely exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis. 

Since a ceasefire betwixt Israel and the militant radical Hamas collapsed successful mid-March, Israel has unleashed fierce strikes connected the territory that person killed hundreds. It has captured swathes of territory and present controls astir 50 per cent of Gaza. 

Before the truce ended, Israel halted each humanitarian assistance into Gaza, including food, substance and water, mounting disconnected what is believed to beryllium the worst humanitarian situation successful astir 19 months of war. The prohibition connected assistance has prompted wide hunger and shortages person acceptable disconnected looting. Israel is trying to ratchet up unit connected Hamas.

Both officials spoke connected information of anonymity due to the fact that they were discussing subject plans.

Plan to power assistance done backstage companies

The Israeli officials said the program included the "capturing of the portion and the holding of territories." The program would besides question to forestall Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group's regularisation successful Gaza. It besides accuses Hamas of keeping the assistance for itself to bolster its capabilities. 

The program besides included almighty strikes against Hamas targets, the officials said. The officials said Israel was successful interaction with respective countries astir U.S. President Donald Trump's program to instrumentality implicit Gaza and relocate its population, nether what Israel has termed "voluntary emigration" yet which has sparked condemnations from Israel's allies successful Europe and the Arab world. 

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For weeks, Israel has been trying to ratchet up unit connected Hamas and punctual it to amusement much flexibility successful ceasefire negotiations. But planetary mediators trying to bring the sides toward a caller woody person struggled to bash so. 

Israel's measures bash not look to person moved Hamas distant from its negotiating positions. The erstwhile ceasefire was meant to pb the sides to negociate an extremity to the war, but that extremity has been a repeated sticking constituent successful talks betwixt Israel and Hamas. 

Israel says it won't hold to extremity the warfare until Hamas is defeated. Hamas, meanwhile, has demanded an statement that winds down the war. 

The Israeli officials did not disclose details connected however the program seeks to forestall Hamas involvement successful assistance distribution. One said the ministers had approved "the enactment of assistance distribution," without elaborating. 

UN objections

According to an interior memo circulated among assistance groups and seen by The Associated Press, Israel told the United Nations that it volition usage backstage information companies to power assistance organisation successful Gaza. The UN, successful a connection Sunday, said it would not enactment successful the program arsenic presented to it, saying it violates its halfway principles. 

The memo, sent to assistance organizations connected Sunday, elaborate notes from a gathering betwixt the Israeli defence assemblage successful complaint of co-ordinating assistance to Gaza, COGAT, and the UN. 

Under COGAT's plan, each assistance volition participate Gaza done the Kerem Shalom crossing, letting astir 60 trucks participate regular and distributing 20 kilograms of assistance parcels straight to radical connected the time of entry, though their contents were unclear, arsenic was however galore radical volition person entree to the aid.

The memo said the assistance volition beryllium distributed astatine logistics hubs, which volition beryllium tally by backstage information companies. The memo said that facial designation volition beryllium utilized to place Palestinians astatine the hubs and substance connection alerts volition notify radical successful the country that they tin cod aid.

The UN said the program would permission ample parts of the population, including the astir vulnerable, without supplies. It said the program "appears designed to reenforce power implicit life-sustaining items arsenic a unit maneuver — arsenic portion of a subject strategy." 

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The memo says that the U.S. authorities has voiced wide enactment for Israel's plan, but it's unclear who would supply backing for the backstage subject companies oregon the aid.

COGAT and the U.S. Embassy successful Jerusalem did not instantly respond to a petition for comment. 

Earlier this week, the AP obtained dozens of documents astir assistance groups' concerns that the hubs could extremity up permanently displacing Palestinians and forcing them to unrecorded successful "de facto internment conditions."

The warfare successful Gaza began erstwhile Hamas-led militants attacked confederate Israel, sidesplitting 1,200 radical — including respective Canadian citizens — and taking astir 250 hostages. Israel says 59 captives stay successful Gaza, though astir 35 are believed to beryllium dead. 

Israel's violative has killed much than 52,000 radical successful Gaza, galore of them women and children, according to Palestinian wellness officials, who bash not separate betwixt combatants and civilians successful their count. 

The warring has displaced much than 90 per cent of Gaza's population, often aggregate times.