What happened
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that his security cabinet had agreed to an "intensive" escalation of the 19-month war in Gaza, and his country was "on the eve of a forceful entry" and indefinite occupation to destroy Hamas. The cabinet separately agreed to set up food-distribution "hubs" protected by U.S. contractors, potentially ending a two-month Israeli blockade of all humanitarian assistance into the enclave.
Who said what
Netanyahu's new plan calls up 70,000 reservists to gradually take over all of Gaza, "flatten any buildings that remain standing and displace virtually the entire population of 2 million people to a single 'humanitarian area,'" Axios said. It would kick in if Hamas doesn't agree to a peace deal by May 15, when President Donald Trump concludes a three-day visit to the Middle East.
Netanyahu's far-right allies said the plan would lead to a permanent takeover of Gaza. The government is "choosing territory over hostages," Israel's Hostage Families Forum said, and going "against the will" of the Israeli people, over 70% of whom oppose a major Gaza operation and favor a peace-and-hostage deal.
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What next?
Trump "does not wish to be seen as a loser on an issue that he declared he would resolve" and wants the Gaza situation "resolved by the time he's in the region," a person familiar with White House deliberations told The Washington Post. The success of his dealmaking in the Gulf Arab countries "lies through not having this bleeding sore of Gaza."
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