Jerusalem
CNN
–
Israeli security ministers voted on Sunday to expand military operations in Gaza and to approve a new framework for aid delivery.
The vote comes hours after the military said it would mobilize tens of thousands of reserves and strengthen its ability to operate on besieged Palestinian territory.
One Israeli official said the new plans for Israeli war in Gaza include “conquering the territory and staying there.” Israeli forces have said they will replace the Palestinian population with southern Gaza, carrying out a “strong strike” against Hamas.
Israel launched a wave of deadly strikes, shattering a ceasefire that had been suspended for almost two months since mid-March, killing more than 2,400 Palestinians in Gaza. More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The expansion of the battle will be phased and will give President Donald Trump an opportunity for an updated ceasefire and hostage release agreement before visiting the area in mid-May. Trump is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar next week, but there is currently no planned suspension in Israel.
The Cabinet also discussed allowing the resumption of aid delivery to Gaza under a new framework that has been approved but has not yet been implemented, according to sources.
Israel’s lockdown of all humanitarian assistance to the strip is currently in its ninth week.
Israeli public broadcaster Kan 11 reported that a conflict broke out over the resumption of aid delivery with National Security Minister Itamaru Ben Gwil, Olith Strook, a far-right member of the cabinet on Sunday.
Sources say Israeli media has reported that it is “not wrong” about the aid discussion.
Israel says it has blocked humanitarian invasions that put pressure on humanity to be released. However, international organizations say that their actions violate international law and the risk of creating artificial hunger, and that some accused Israel of using hunger as a weapon of war.
US and Israeli officials are Israeli sources who are well-versed in the issue and are discussing the mechanisms that State Department officials have told CNN that they can provide assistance to Gaza, bypassing Hamas. Officials said the announcement could be made “in the coming days.”
According to a State Department spokesman, the delivery mechanisms under work aim to protect the Palestinian population with safeguards and prevent them from detouring to Hamas or Islamic jihad.
The unnamed private foundation will govern the aid mechanism and the provision of humanitarian supplies to Gaza, a spokesperson said.
The United States hopes that the UN and international aid organizations will work together with the foundation’s mechanism framework to ensure supply does not reach Hamas, the spokesman said.
Aid agencies working on occupied Palestinian territory on Sunday “refused a new framework for the delivery of aid, saying the plan was “designed to increase control over life support items,” failing to ensure that aid reaches Gaza’s most vulnerable populations.
“The UN Secretary-General and the Emergency Relief Coordinator have made it clear that they will not participate in a scheme that does not follow the global humanitarian principles of humanity, equity, independence and neutrality,” the group said in a joint statement.
