According to the Washington Post, an unnamed Israeli official said that the ministers in the cabinet have agreed to implement a plan to expand the scale of the military campaign, including controlling more territory in the area and mobilizing tens of thousands of reserve soldiers in Gaza.
This plan will be implemented in a step-by-step roadmap, which could mark a new escalation phase in the ongoing conflict.
The Israeli military general, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, said the army was preparing to deploy in additional areas in Gaza and continued to attack the gunmen's infrastructure. He also confirmed the order to call up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers to serve military operations in the next phase.
Israel has now taken control of about half of the Gaza Strip, including the buffer zone along the border and three east-west corridors. This control pushes Gaza residents, who have been exhausted by war, into increasingly narrow and unlivable areas.
Over the past few weeks, Israel has increased pressure on Hamas to force it to make concession in negotiations. Since the beginning of March, Israel has stopped allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza - a ban still in effect and has caused more than 2.3 million people to fall into the most serious humanitarian crisis since the beginning of the war, with widespread hunger and frequent robberies.
Since March 18, Israel has resumed airstrikes in Gaza, killing more than 2,600 people, including many women and children, according to local health sources.
Israel has said it will not end the military campaign until Hamas is completely eliminated, while Hamas has demanded an agreement that would end the war. The negotiations have not yet made clear progress.
The Israeli operation is believed to have killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza, including many women and children, according to statistics from Palestinian health officials. The conflict has also displaced more than 90% of Gaza's population many times, turning it into a desolate, uninhabitable land.
