Israel's security cabinet has approved a plan to take control of Gaza City, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has confirmed,
BBC reports.
A statement released on Friday morning detailed a five-point plan "for defeating Hamas" and "concluding the war". It was approved by a majority vote.
Netanyahu had earlier said Israel intended to take over all of the Gaza Strip, but the plan only mentions Gaza City.
The UN has warned that a complete military takeover would risk "catastrophic consequences" for Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages held in Gaza. The UK's ambassador to Israel has said it would be "a huge mistake".
The plan lists five objectives: disarming Hamas, returning all hostages, demilitarising the Gaza Strip, taking security control of the territory, and establishing "an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority".
"The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will prepare to take control of Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones," Israel's military said.
The escalation faces opposition in Israel, including from the families of the remaining hostages who say the lives of the 20 believed to have survived will be put in peril. It is also likely to uproot and hugely endanger hundreds of thousands more Palestinians in areas where military action will spread to.
