Israel okays ‘conquering Gaza, holding the territories,’ as IDF chief said to warn ‘we could lose’ the hostages

Israel approved a plan to significantly broaden the military offensive against the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip late Sunday, even as the army chief reportedly warned ministers that this could endanger the hostages held there. The plan provides for the “conquering of Gaza” and retaining the territory, an Israeli official said Monday morning.

The security cabinet unanimously approved the plan to expand the Gaza operation, the official said. It is expected to only be implemented after US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region next week, and until then, efforts will continue to reach a ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas, Hebrew media reported.

The plan, which the official speaking Monday said had been presented by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, provides for the “conquering of Gaza and holding the territories.” The official said it will see the IDF take control of territory in Gaza, move the civilian population toward the south, attack Hamas, and prevent the terror group from taking control of humanitarian aid.

The plan is gradual and focuses at first on a certain, unspecified area within the Strip, before expanding to other places, the Kan public broadcaster reported Sunday, adding that the intense fighting was expected to go on for months.

Additionally, the Israeli official said, the security cabinet approved a proposal to renew aid deliveries into Gaza while overhauling the mechanism in order to minimize diversion of the goods by Hamas to benefit its operatives. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was the only one who voted against this proposal, which was to be implemented when the situation in Gaza necessitated it.

The aid delivery proposal, first reported by The Times of Israel on Friday, would entail the IDF transitioning away from wholesale distribution and warehousing of aid and instead have international organizations and private security contractors hand out boxes of food to individual Gazan families.

According to Israeli and Arab officials familiar with the matter, the IDF would not be directly involved in the distribution of aid, but troops would be tasked with providing an outer layer of security for the private contractors and international organizations handing out the assistance. Israel believes this method will make it harder for Hamas to divert aid to its fighters, the officials said.

‘Could lose’ the hostages

Differences of opinion persisted within Israel’s leadership regarding the expansion of the Gaza offensive.

Channel 13 news reported Sunday evening that Chief of Staff Zamir had warned ministers in recent days that Israel “could lose” the hostages in Gaza if it launches a major operation in the Strip.

Terrorists in Gaza are holding 59 hostages, including at least 35 who have been confirmed dead. They were among 251 abducted on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led over 5,000 terrorists to invade southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and triggering the war.

“In a plan for a full-scale maneuver, we won’t necessarily reach the hostages,” the network quoted Zamir as saying in a meeting. “Keep in mind that we could lose them.”

Zamir was also quoted as contending that the war’s two goals of defeating Hamas and rescuing the hostages “are problematic in relation to each other.”

Hostages’ families have long argued this, but political leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have insisted that military pressure will aid in reaching a deal for the hostages’ return.

Channel 13 said ministers were not swayed by Zamir’s comments, and that the military was likely to intensify its Gaza operations soon.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in response to the report: “The chief of staff’s warning should keep every Israeli awake at night. An overwhelming majority of the nation is united around the understanding that an Israeli victory cannot be achieved without bringing the hostages home. Losing the hostages would mean an Israeli defeat. National security and social stability depend on the return of all the hostages — every last one.”

Upping the pressure on Hamas

At the same time, an Israeli source told The Times of Israel Sunday that Israel has no hope that Hamas will accept Israel’s proposals for a ceasefire-hostage release deal without significantly enhanced military pressure.

Netanyahu is focusing more in his rhetoric on the goal of destroying Hamas, and less on the goal of a hostage release, as part of that pressure campaign, the source said, stressing that the goals of the war have not changed.

Netanyahu on Thursday angered hostages’ families when he said that while bringing back hostages was “very important,” the “supreme goal” of the war was victory.

The IDF later appeared to contradict Netanyahu and said bringing back the hostages was the “supreme mission.”

Meanwhile, during a visit Sunday to the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit, Zamir in public remarks aligned with the government’s current messaging and said the military was increasing pressure on Hamas to release the hostages.

“This week, we are sending tens of thousands of draft orders to our reserve personnel to intensify and expand our action in Gaza. We are increasing the pressure to return our people [held hostage] and defeat Hamas,” Zamir said in remarks published by the IDF.

He said the IDF would “operate in additional areas and destroy all of [Hamas’s] infrastructure above and below ground.”

Netanyahu similarly said in a video statement that the military campaign in Gaza was designed “to defeat Hamas.”

In a clip posted to his personal X account before the cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said the plan has stages and that the cabinet was focused on two missions: “One, to bring our hostages back. Two, to defeat Hamas. Hamas will not be there, you have to understand this.”

“In wars, you reach a decision — victory,” he said as he rapped the table. Netanyahu rejected the notion that he was pursuing the war for political benefit, saying the refusal to let Hamas and Hezbollah stay on Israel’s borders was not political.

צפו בעדכון חשוב ממני אליכם >> pic.twitter.com/hLLodqVnPz

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) May 4, 2025

Netanyahu stressed that calls by government critics to refuse call-up orders must cease, saying it encourages Hamas.

“We will achieve full victory in Gaza, total,” he added. “Victory will bring the hostages.”

Hamas said to reestablish internal security force

Also Sunday, Palestinian news outlet Safa reported that Hamas’s interior ministry had reestablished a unit called the “Executive Force,” aimed at restoring order in the Gaza Strip.

The force originally operated in 2006, during the period when Hamas was part of the Palestinian Authority government, and functioned under PA security structures.

Following Hamas’s takeover of Gaza in 2007, the Palestinian Authority declared the force illegal, and Hamas later dismantled it.

According to the report, approximately 5,000 Hamas operatives have now been integrated into the newly reestablished force, which is tasked with “restoring order and stability and acting against gangs of thieves and collaborators with Israel.”

While Hamas did not officially confirm the report, a news outlet affiliated with the organization republished the Safa article.

In recent days, reports from Gaza have described a rise in incidents of theft and looting. One likely contributing factor is the worsening food shortage in the Strip, now entering its third month under a complete Israeli ban on the entry of humanitarian aid.