On Monday, officials from Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that the Israeli leader had decided to “occupy all of the Gaza Strip, including areas where hostages may be held.”
The statement was shared in Hebrew and the term used can be translated to mean both “occupy” and “conquer.” Netanyahu’s office did not respond to a request for clarification on the intended definition.
Recent research from Israel’s Hebrew University, reported in Haaretz, estimates that about 70% of all structures in Gaza have been made uninhabitable.
While Israel had fought numerous conflicts in Gaza since Hamas militants took over the enclave in 2007, the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks that left 1,200 dead and saw 250 taken hostage triggered a war of unprecedented ferocity in the territory.
Israel’s military operation has forced most of the territory’s residents to be displaced multiple times, and killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, including thousands of children, according to local health officials.
The world’s leading body on hunger, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, has sounded the alarm that the “worst-case scenario of famine” is now unfolding in the Palestinian enclave.
With a ceasefire elusive and some dozens of hostages still being held by militant groups in Gaza, Israel is weighing an expansion of the military campaign.
Netanyahu held a three-hour-long “limited security discussion” Tuesday, according to his office, in which the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff presented different options for continuing the offensive in Gaza.
Netanyahu will convene his security Cabinet at 6:30 p.m. local time (11:30 a.m. ET) Thursday to consider those different options, an Israeli official told NBC News.
The Times of Israel reports that the Cabinet is expected to sign off on a phased plan that would initially focus on seizing the central area of Gaza City, before expanding aid distribution centers in coordination with the United States.
The operation could take place over up to five months, according to the report.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the hostages in Gaza, says more than 80% of Israelis want a comprehensive deal for the return of the hostages and an immediate end to the war.
“Six hundred and seventy days, almost two years since October 7th, and we keep hearing only promises,” the group said in a statement Wednesday.
Einav Tsangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Tsangauker, called on people to gather outside the Cabinet meeting Thursday to protest against expanding the military operation.
“Anyone who talks about a comprehensive agreement doesn’t go conquering the Strip while putting hostages and soldiers in danger,” she wrote in a post on X.
There are 50 hostages who remain captive in Gaza, with just more than 20 believed to be alive as of late June, according to Netanyahu’s office.