ISLAMABAD: Israel’s security cabinet approved the expansion of military operations in Gaza including the “conquest” of the Palestinian territory, an official said Monday, after the army called up tens of thousands of reservists for the offensive, AFP reported.
The plan, approved overnight, includes the holding of territories in the besieged Gaza Strip and comes alongside Israel’s promotion of Gaza’s residents to leave, AFP cited the official as saying.
Israel resumed major operations across Gaza on March 18 amid deadlock over how to proceed with a two-month ceasefire.
Israel has since carried out intensive aerial bombardments and expanded ground operations across the Palestinian territory, with Gaza rescuers on Monday saying Israeli air strikes killed at least 19 people in the north.
Reservists
AFP cited the Israeli official as saying the plan for expanded operations “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”.
The majority of Gaza’s residents hail from the north of the territory, particularly Gaza City, and nearly all have been displaced at least once since the war began.
On Sunday, Israeli army chief said the military was calling up “tens of thousands” of reservists to expand its offensive.
The health ministry in Gaza said Sunday that at least 2,436 people had been killed since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, bringing the overall death toll from the war to 52,535.
“Sacrificing hostages”
An Israeli campaign group representing hostages’ relatives said Monday that the new plan for expanded military operations in Gaza is “sacrificing” hostages held there.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said two Israeli air strikes killed at least 19 Palestinians in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory’s north early Monday.
AFP cited the agency’s spokesman, Mahmud Bassal as saying, “Our teams found 15 martyrs and 10 wounded, mostly children and women, after an Israeli strike on three apartments” northwest of Gaza City.
Four other people were killed and four wounded in a strike on a house in Beit Lahiya, north of Gaza City, he said.
