OCCUPIED AL-QUDS (Dispatches) -- Israel’s war cabinet unanimously approved a new military plan on Monday to expand the invasion of Gaza, including the “conquest” of the territory and promotion of the “voluntary migration” of its population, according to multiple Israeli officials and political sources.
“The plan will include, among other things, the conquest of the Gaza Strip and the holding of the territories, moving the Gaza population south for their protection,” an Israeli official speaking with AFP said.
The decision marks a significant escalation in Israel’s war strategy and comes amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where more than 52,000 people have been killed since October 2023, according to Palestinian health authorities.
The approved plan includes several core elements: the occupation of the Gaza Strip, military control over its territory, and the forced relocation of hundreds of thousands of civilians to southern Gaza.
According to political sources cited by AFP, Zionist prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is continuing to promote a revival of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal for the “voluntary migration” of Gazans to neighboring countries, including Egypt and Jordan.
However, the Trump plan is not new and is based on previous Israeli plans to ethnically cleanse Gaza.
According to leaked documents published by Israeli magazine Mekomit in October 2023, Israel’s ministry of intelligence had already identified the complete transfer of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula as the “preferred option” among three future scenarios. 
The plan called for establishing tent and permanent cities in northern Sinai and creating a closed security zone inside Egyptian territory to prevent Palestinians from returning near the occupied border.
Two Zionist officials told the AP that the plan approved Monday

 will be implemented gradually and includes continued military strikes aimed at weakening Hamas and securing the release of Israeli captives. 
The cabinet also discussed measures to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel claims the group uses to bolster its military capabilities.
The vote followed the announcement by Israeli military chief Herzi Halevi that “tens of thousands” of reservists are being mobilized to support an expanded onslaught on Gaza. The military already controls about 50 percent of the territory and has launched intense strikes since ending the January ceasefire and resuming bombing of the strip in mid-March.
Israel’s blockade since March 18 has created severe shortages of food, fuel, and clean water, triggering looting and mass displacement. Over 90 percent of Gaza’s population has been displaced – often multiple times – and large swathes of the territory have become uninhabitable.
Critics say the relocation of Gaza’s population amounts to ethnic cleansing, and the idea of “voluntary migration” has been condemned by Israel’s allies in Europe and the Arab world. 
Despite growing international criticism, Zionist officials confirmed that discussions are ongoing with several countries to advance the controversial migration proposal and receive Palestinians.
Israel previously occupied Gaza from 1967 until its withdrawal in 2005. Hamas took control of the strip in 2007 and has ruled it since that time under an Israeli blockade and siege.
Netanyahu said on Monday that the expanded onslaught would be “intensive” and would see more Palestinians in Gaza moved from the territory. 
He said Israeli troops would not follow previous tactics based on short raids by forces based outside Gaza. “The intention is the opposite,” he said, echoing comments from other Zionist officials who have said Israel would hold on to the ground it has seized.
Israeli troops have already occupied over an area amounting to around a third of Gaza, displacing the population and building watchtowers and surveillance posts on cleared ground the military has described as security zones, but the new plan would go further.
Israeli attacks on Gaza killed at least 51 people on Monday, medical sources said. Gaza’s health ministry said 52,567 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, and 118,610 wounded.