JERUSALEM, May 6 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli Security Cabinet on Monday approved a plan to expand its military offensive in Gaza, including intensified assaults, continued occupation of the strip, and full control of aid distribution.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesman Effie Defrin told reporters that the expanded offensive would involve "wide-scale" attacks and "moving the majority of the population."
According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the operation plan aims to "defeat Hamas and, in the process, secure the release of the hostages."
A senior Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the operation could begin in mid-May if Hamas does not agree to a hostage release deal on Israeli terms.
On Tuesday, military chief Eyal Zamir, Shin Bet director Ronen Bar, and other senior Israeli officers were "holding a situational assessment and approving operational plans" at Southern Command headquarters as part of preparations for the operation, the military said in a statement.
While Israel is preparing to take action, analysts believe that the plan is unlikely to help Israel achieve its war objectives in Gaza.
Ephraim Sneh, head of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Strategic Dialogue in Netanya Academic College and Israel's former deputy defense minister, said the operation would endanger hostages and undermine prospects for a negotiated deal.
"It puts the hostages under high risk," he said, noting that Hamas's organized military infrastructure had already been dismantled, and what remains are dispersed guerrilla units embedded among civilians.
"To destroy what remains of Hamas will take a long, long time," Sneh said. "We are entering a very protracted kind of warfare, one that will cost lives without delivering strategic gains."
Amos Harel, senior military correspondent for Haaretz, echoed the concerns. "Let me be blunt: We are marching into another disaster in the Gaza Strip," he wrote on Monday, predicting a prolonged occupation, mounting casualties, and worsening humanitarian conditions, with little chance of a decisive military "victory."
Israel's plan was also denounced by UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini. He said in a post on social media platform X that the plan "falls far short of addressing the devastating hunger," calling the situation "a manmade and politically motivated starvation ... an expression of absolute cruelty."
In response to the Israeli plan, Hamas has ruled out entering any new ceasefire or prisoner exchange negotiations with Israel without firm guarantees that the war will end.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior Hamas official told Xinhua that Israel is employing starvation as a weapon of war in an attempt to force Hamas into concessions.
"This form of collective punishment against Gaza's population will not serve Israel's objectives," the official said.
The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
A ceasefire reached in January collapsed in early March, when Israel unilaterally withdrew from the agreement and resumed full-scale bombardment of the enclave two weeks later. ■
