A child stands amid the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli strike in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip. AFP
The plans to escalate assaults in Gaza more than 18 months after the war there erupted come as a humanitarian crisis in the territory deepens.
In early March, Israel blocked the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza, including food, plunging the territory of 2.3 million people into what is believed to be the worst humanitarian crisis since the war began.
Two weeks later, Israel shattered an eight-week-long ceasefire deal in Gaza by resuming deadly bombardment, killing at least 2,326 Palestinians since then. Its occupation army also captured swaths of the coastal enclave.
An Israeli official said the country’s influential security Cabinet would meet on Sunday evening to vote on plans to expand the attacks on the Palestinian territory. An army official said the country was calling up thousands of reserve soldiers.
Extremist Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, in an interview with Israeli Army Radio, said he wanted to see a “powerful” expansion of the war, but did not disclose details as to what that would entail.
Israel has killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza, most of them women and children.
The war has displaced more than 90% of Gaza's population, often multiple times.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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