Israel plans to capture all of Gaza under new plan, officials say

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel approved plans Monday to capture the entire Gaza Strip and remain in the Palestinian territory for an unspecified amount of time, two Israeli officials said, a move that, if implemented, would vastly expand Israel's operations in Gaza and likely bring fierce international opposition.

Israeli Cabinet ministers approved the plan in an early morning vote, hours after the Israeli military chief said the army was calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers.

The new plan, which the officials said was meant to help Israel achieve its war aims of defeating Hamas and freeing hostages held in Gaza, also calls for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to move to Gaza's south — which would likely lead to their forcible displacement and exacerbate an already dire humanitarian crisis.

One of the officials said the plan would be implemented gradually in an attempt to give efforts for a ceasefire and hostage release deal a chance to move ahead. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing military plans.

Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 after a decades-long occupation and then imposed a blockade on the territory along with Egypt. Capturing and potentially occupying the territory again for an indefinite period would not only further dash hopes for Palestinian statehood, it would embed Israel inside a population that is deeply hostile to it and raise questions about how Israel plans to govern the territory, especially at a time when it is considering how to implement U.S. President Donald Trump's vision to take over Gaza.

Since Israel ended a ceasefire with the Hamas militant group in mid-March, Israel has unleashed fierce strikes on the territory that have killed hundreds. It has captured swaths of territory and now controls roughly 50% of Gaza. Before the truce ended, Israel halted all humanitarian aid into the territory, including food, fuel and water, setting off what is believed to the be the worst humanitarian crisis in nearly 19 months of war.

The ban on aid has led to widespread hunger and shortages have set off looting. The war has already displaced more than 90% of Gaza's population, often multiple times, and turned many parts of it into an uninhabitable moonscape.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Israel says 59 captives remain in Gaza, although about 35 are believed to be dead.

Israel's offensive has killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza, many of them women and children, according to Palestinian health officials, who do not distinguish between combatants and civilians in their count.

Israel is trying to ratchet up pressure on Hamas

The Israeli officials said the plan included the ''capturing of the strip and the holding of territories.'' The plan would also seek to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, a role that Israel says strengthens the group's rule in Gaza. It also accuses Hamas of keeping the aid for itself, without providing evidence. Aid workers deny there is a significant diversion of aid to militants, saying the U.N. strictly monitors distribution.

The officials said Israel was in touch with several countries about Trump's plan to take over Gaza and relocate its population, under what Israel has termed ''voluntary emigration." That proposal has drawn widespread condemnation, including from Israel's allies in Europe, and rights groups have warned it could be a war crime under international law.

For weeks, Israel has been trying to ratchet up pressure on Hamas to get the group to agree to its terms in the ceasefire negotiations. But the measures do not appear to have moved Hamas away from its negotiating positions.

The previous ceasefire was meant to lead the sides to negotiate an end to the war, but that has remained elusive. Israel says it won't agree to end the war until Hamas' governing and military capabilities are dismantled. Hamas, meanwhile, has sought an agreement that winds down the war without agreeing to disarm.

Israel's expansion announcement angered families of hostages who fear that any extension of the conflict endangers their loved ones. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which supports families, urged Israel's decision-makers to prioritize the hostages and secure a deal quickly.

At a Knesset committee meeting Monday, Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is being held hostage, called on soldiers ''not to report for reserve duty for moral and ethical reasons."

Some reservists have indicated they will refuse to serve in a war they increasingly view as politically motivated.

Israel wants to prevent Hamas from handling aid

The Israeli officials did not disclose details on how the plan seeks to prevent Hamas from involvement in aid distribution. They said the ministers had approved ''the option of aid distribution," without elaborating.

According to a memo circulated among aid groups and seen by The Associated Press, Israel told the United Nations that it will use private security companies to control aid distribution in Gaza. The U.N., in a statement Sunday, said it would not participate in the plan as presented, saying it violates its core principles.

The memo summarized a meeting between the Israeli defense body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, called COGAT, and the UN. It was written by a group briefed on the meeting and sent to aid organizations on Sunday.

According to the memo, under COGAT's plan, all aid will enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, on approximately 60 trucks daily, and aid parcels will be distributed directly to people on the day of entry. Their contents were unclear as was how many people will have access to the aid. Some 500 trucks entered Gaza every day before the war.

The memo said the aid will be distributed at logistics hubs, which will be run by private security companies. The memo said that facial recognition will be used to identify Palestinians at the hubs and text message alerts will notify people in the area that they can collect aid.

The UN accuses Israel of wanting to control aid as a ‘pressure tactic'

The U.N. said the plan would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies. It said the plan ''appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy.''

Aid groups have said they are opposed to using any armed or uniformed personnel to distribute aid that could potentially intimidate Palestinians or put them at risk, and they fiercely criticized the new plan.

Israeli officials ''want to manipulate and militarize all aid to civilians, forcing us to deliver supplies through hubs designed by the Israeli military, once the government agrees to re-open crossings,'' the Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said on X, saying the group wouldn't participate.

The memo says that the U.S. government has voiced clear support for the plan, but it's unclear who would provide funding for the private military companies or the aid.

COGAT and the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this month, the AP obtained notes summarizing various Israeli proposals on aid distribution and aid groups' concerns about them. In those documents, the groups expressed fears that Palestinians would be required to retrieve aid from a small number of sites, forcing families to move to get assistance and also putting their safety at risk if large crowds gathered at the sites.

Meanwhile, Israeli strikes across Gaza continued overnight, killing at least 17 people in northern Gaza, according to hospital staff. Strikes hit Gaza City, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya and among the dead were eight women and children, according to staff at the Shifa hospital, where the bodies were brought.

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Mednick reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press reporter Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, contributed to this report.

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Follow AP's war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war