Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is leaning towards ordering a "full occupation" of Gaza, Israeli media reported on Monday, despite mounting pressure to end the war.
Mr Netanyahu said he would convene his security cabinet this week to discuss how to instruct the military to meet his war goals in Gaza.
Israel's Channel 12 quoted an official from his office as saying that Mr Netanyahu was inclined towards expanding the offensive and seizing the enclave. There was no immediate confirmation.
"We must continue to stand together and fight together to achieve all our war objectives: the defeat of the enemy, the release of our hostages, and the assurance that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel," Mr Netanyahu told a regular cabinet meeting on Monday.
Any expansion of the war would be met with dismay by Palestinians and Middle East countries who have sought to end the 22-month conflict. It is unclear whether a 'full occupation' would improve or worsen the desperate humanitarian situation in the strip.
Gaza's health authorities said 180 people have now died of starvation – 93 of them children – under Israel's blockade of the territory. Israeli troops ended a two-month ceasefire in March and began taking control of large parts of Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu said on July 25 that Israel and the US were "considering alternative options" to bring hostages home and end Hamas's rule of Gaza, without explaining what those might be. It came after talks on a proposed 60-day truce collapsed as negotiators were pulled out of Qatar.
US envoy Steve Witkoff had said during a visit to the Middle East last week that he was working with the Israeli government on a plan that would effectively end the war in Gaza.
President Donald Trump has said ending the conflict is a priority for his administration. However, months of negotiations mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt have failed to reach a deal as Israel's government faces mounting pressure over humanitarian conditions in the enclave.
Hamas would be open to negotiating a comprehensive Gaza deal that would end the war in the Palestinian enclave and free all the hostages it holds, sources told The National on Monday. That would be a shift away from talks on a temporary ceasefire.
Hamas is believed to be holding about 50 hostages, of whom 20 are believed to be alive. Most were captured during the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war.
