On Sunday night, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Security Council, Beniam Netanyahu, unanimously approved a new military plan for the occupation and stay of the Army on Gaza areas, marking a shift to the strategy, but without clarifying whether Israel will go ahead.

The plan provides for the gradual entry of Israeli Defense Forces (IDFs) into areas of the northern and southern part of Gaza and their indefinite stay there, according to Israeli officials on Monday. The civilians in these areas will move to zones that have already been “cleansed” and controlled by the Israeli army, while the IDFs will try to eradicate Hamas and the destruction of its tunnels.

“The army will not enter and leave, returning only to targeted operations, as in the past,” Netanyahu said in a videotaped statement Monday. “We no longer do this, this is not the intention. The intention is the opposite. “

However, the Israeli prime minister did not clarify whether the plan ultimately leads to the full occupation or administration of the entire Gaza, a fixed request of both his far -right allies wishing to explode 1.7 million Palestinians and the return of Jewish settlements, Hamas.

“The implications can lead, without an official decision, to a de facto occupation of Gaza and taking responsibility for the fate of two million Palestinians, with what it entails for the international position of Israel, his economy and the army,” he said to his former MP. “The army can always be withdrawn, as has happened in the past, but the chances of such an agreement are diminished.”

For months, Israeli leaders have been considering the possibility of a full conquest of Gaza, which, according to a former official, would require at least 60,000 troops. But several military commanders resisted this scenario, saying that the IDFs do not have the necessary staff to complete the area, and that such an invasion would endanger the lives of 21 Israeli hostages remaining in Hamas.

The plan approved on Sunday is more limited and foresees a gradual approach, with much less than 60,000 troops, and without the whole lane being occupied, according to Israeli officials. Government executives point out that the plan will gradually pressure Hamas, without excluding negotiations for liberation of additional hostages, an issue with great political burden in Israel.

However, strong finance minister and settlement of settlers, Bezalel Smotric, said that Israel would not leave, even if hostages were returned. One of the goals of the war, he said, must be the annexation of Gaza.

“There will be no retreat from the territories we have conquered, not even in return for hostages,” he told a conference on Monday. “As soon as we stay in Gaza, we can talk about the declaration of sovereignty.”

Immediately, the opposition warned that the new strategy paves the way for Gaza’s annexation, as Smotrich and far -right Minister of National Security Italbar Ben Gvir, whose support is needed by Netanyahu to maintain the cohesion.

“This is no longer a temporary business but a move that prepares a permanent presence in the area, turning the fantasies of Ben Gvir and Smotric into reality,” said Yair Golan, leader of the left -wing party Democrats and a retired general. “The de facto possession of Gaza in the name of ‘government survival’ will cost us blood, the lives of hostages, soldiers, exhaustion and, above all, that we are losing our way.”