Extract from ABC News
The Israeli government has authorised its military to seize the Gaza Strip.
In short:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed a new offensive in Gaza will include an intensive military operation aimed at defeating Hamas.
Mr Netanyahu says the population in Gaza "will be moved for its own protection" but he did not say how much of the strip will be seized.
What's next?
US President Donald Trump is set to visit the region next week.
Israel has approved plans to seize the Gaza Strip and stay in the Palestinian territory for an unspecified amount of time, two Israeli officials say.
If implemented, the move would vastly expand Israel's operations there and likely draw fierce international opposition.
The new plan, which Israeli cabinet ministers approved in an early-morning vote, also calls for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to move to Gaza's south.
Under the plan, Israeli forces would hold territory they seized until Hamas was defeated or agreed to leave Gaza. (Reuters: Amir Cohen)
That would likely amount to their forcible displacement and exacerbate an already dire humanitarian crisis.
Details of the plan were not formally announced, and its exact timing and implementation were not clear.
Its approval came hours after the Israeli military chief said the army was calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers.
Netanyahu says Palestinians will be moved 'for their own safety'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 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.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed the new military operation in Gaza. (Reuters: Abir Sultan)
"The intention is the opposite," he said, echoing comments from other Israeli officials who have said Israel will hold on to the ground it has seized.
The plan may be another measure by Israel to try to pressure Hamas into making concessions in ceasefire negotiations.
A third person, a defence official, said the new plan would not begin until after US President Donald Trump wrapped up his expected visit to the Middle East this month, allowing for the possibility that Israel might agree to a ceasefire in the meantime.
All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing military plans.
Israel controls about half of Gaza
"We are finally going to conquer Gaza. We are no longer afraid of the word 'occupation'," Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told a pro-settler conference in an online discussion.
"We are conquering Gaza, clearing it out, and taking control of every area we enter."
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 Mr Trump's vision to take over Gaza.
Israeli tanks operate near the Israel-Gaza border. (Reuters: Amir Cohen)
Since Israel ended a ceasefire with the Hamas militant group in mid-March, it has unleashed fierce strikes on the territory that have killed hundreds.
It has captured swaths of territory and now controls roughly 50 per cent of Gaza.
Before the truce ended, Israel halted all humanitarian aid to the territory, including food, fuel and water, setting off what is believed to be the worst humanitarian crisis in nearly 19 months of war.
Israel would distribute aid under plan
Mr Netanyahu said on Monday cabinet ministers had decided on a "powerful operation in Gaza", including "a movement of the population to protect it".
The plan also imposes Israeli control over aid distribution.
Israel has cut off the supply of aid to Gaza. (ABC News)
Israel accuses Hamas of diverting aid for its own use. However, it has not provided evidence to back up the allegation.
A spokesman for the UN humanitarian office, Jens Laerke, denied there was significant diversion of aid, saying the UN employed "a solid system to monitor and prevent" such theft.
The officials said Israel was in touch with several countries about Mr Trump's plan to take over Gaza and relocate its population, under what Israel has called "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 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.
Reservists urged not to report for duty
Israel says it will not agree to end the war until Hamas's governing and military capabilities are dismantled.
Hamas, meanwhile, has sought an agreement that winds down the war without it agreeing to disarm.
Community kitchens close in Gaza as an Israeli blockade cuts the food supply. (Eric Tlozek)
Israel's announcement angered families of hostages who fear that any extension of the conflict will endanger their loved ones.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which supports families, urged Israel's decision-makers to prioritise the hostages and secure a deal quickly.
At a Knesset committee meeting on Monday, Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is being held hostage, called on soldiers "not to report for reserve duty for moral and ethical reasons".
Aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip, including in Khan Younis, have been slashed. (Reuters: Hatem Khaled )
Some reservists have indicated they will refuse to serve in a war they increasingly view as politically motivated.
UN says plan violates core principles
The UN, in a statement on Sunday, said it would not participate in the plan as presented, saying it violated its core principles.
The memo summarised a meeting between the Israeli defence body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, called COGAT, and the UN.
Protesters on Monday demanded Mr Netanyahu's government do more to secure the release of hostages. (Reuters: Ammar Awad)
It was written by a group briefed on the meeting and sent on Sunday to aid organisations.
According to the memo, under COGAT's plan, all aid would enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, on approximately 60 trucks daily, and be distributed directly to people.
Some 500 trucks entered Gaza every day before the war.
The memo said that facial-recognition technology would be used to identify Palestinians at logistics hubs and text message alerts would notify people in the area that they could collect aid.
COGAT did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Air strikes hit Houthi targets
The security meeting came hours after part of a missile that the Iran-backed Houthis group launched from Yemen fell close to Israel's main gateway, Ben Gurion Airport.
Israeli security forces in the area of Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv. (AP: Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
At least 42 people were killed by Israeli strikes from Sunday through Monday afternoon, according to hospitals and the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza.
The Israeli military offered no immediate comment on the strikes.
Later on Monday, local time, the Israeli military targeted Houthi rebels in Yemen's Red Sea city of Hodeida with a punishing round of air strikes.
The strikes came a day after the Iranian-backed rebels launched a missile that hit Israel's main airport.
The rebels' media office said at least six strikes hit the Hodeida port.
Other strikes hit a cement factory, the rebels said.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 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 displaced more than 90 per cent of Gaza's population and, according to Palestinian health officials, killed more than 52,000 people there, many of them women and children. The officials do not distinguish between combatants and civilians in their count.
ABC/wires
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