The Israeli military reportedly announced Sunday that it intends to seize control of 75 percent of the Gaza Strip within two months, a move it says is designed to dismantle Hamas while compressing Palestinian civilians into a quarter of the besieged enclave’s territory.
As part of the shift, Israeli officials said they will launch a new U.S.-supported humanitarian aid initiative as early as Monday.
The plan involves four secured distribution hubs — three in southern Gaza and one in the center — where hundreds of American contractors will dispense aid packages to civilians.
Under the program, a representative from each Palestinian family will be required to collect supplies every five days.
But major humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, have refused to take part, citing concerns that the effort violates neutrality and forces civilians to traverse active conflict zones.
“This plan cannot be reconciled with the core humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence,” said Jake Wood, the head of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the organization tasked with executing the aid mission. Wood resigned Monday in protest.
Despite his departure, the foundation said it intends to proceed and aims to reach more than one million Gazans by week’s end.
The effort comes as Israel shifts its military strategy in the seven-month-old conflict. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the new phase will emphasize seizing and holding territory — a stark departure from previous tactics that focused on raids with limited occupation.
The military says the goal is to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages, disarming its forces, and forcing its remaining leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, out of Gaza.
The announcement follows a period of escalating operations, including the killing of Mohammed Sinwar — brother of Yahya — in an airstrike earlier this month, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Since a temporary cease-fire collapsed in March, Israeli forces have pushed deeper into Gaza, now controlling approximately 40 percent of the territory, military officials said.
Thousands of additional troops have been deployed amid rising domestic pressure to bring hostages home and end the war, as public support continues to erode.
The military also said it will demolish any infrastructure it identifies as being used by Hamas during its advance, raising concerns about further devastation in Gaza, where vast areas have already been reduced to rubble.
An Israeli official said about a quarter of Hamas’s extensive tunnel network — stretching for hundreds of miles beneath Gaza — has been destroyed so far.
The campaign unfolds against a backdrop of severe humanitarian crisis, following months of blockade that choked off access to food, fuel, and medicine.
[READ MORE: U.S. and Iran Work Towards Framework for Potential Nuclear Deal]
