https://news.sky.com/story/israel-approves-plan-to-seize-all-of-gaza-and-hold-it-indefinitely-officials-say-13362138

The Israeli prime minister says IDF forces will not launch raids and then abandon territory, "but the opposite".

The plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.

The Israeli official said the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza's civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas's hands.

On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.

It comes as the blockade of Gaza continues, despite international outcry and the devastating humanitarian situation inside.

Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.

Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.

They said the plan included the "capturing of the strip and the holding of territories".

It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group's rule in Gaza.

The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.

It said it "appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic - as part of a military strategy".