Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet has ratified a gradual expansion of the offensive against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.
Israeli army chief, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, in a statement on Sunday, said the military has already commenced issuing tens of thousands of call-up orders for its reserve forces as it looks to expand the Gaza campaign.
Zamir told troops they are increasing the pressure with the goal of returning their people (hostages) and defeating Hamas.
TREND REPORTERS gathered that Israel resumed ground operations in Gaza in March after the collapse of a US-backed ceasefire that had halted fighting for two months.
An Israeli news website reported on Monday that the security cabinet also approved a new plan for aid distribution in Gaza.
Israel is said to be in control of around a third of Gaza’s territory and has faced growing international pressure to lift an aid blockade that it imposed in March.
The country has defended the blockade by saying that Hamas has seized aid intended for civilians and kept it for its own fighters or sold it, Hamas has, however, denied the charges leveled against it by Israel.
