Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to convene his security cabinet, a small group of senior ministers, on Thursday to discuss expanding Israel’s military campaign into the rest of Gaza.
The talks come amid growing criticism domestically and worries that such a step would endanger the lives of hostages held by Hamas and other armed groups in the enclave.
Mr. Netanyahu’s high-stakes proposal comes as the last military operation, which began in mid-March, has come to a virtual standstill and as negotiations with Hamas for a cease-fire and a hostage-for-prisoner exchange have reached an impasse.
A hunger crisis in Gaza, which many aid agencies and foreign governments blame on Israeli policies, has killed scores of Palestinians and spurred an international diplomatic backlash against Israel — including from some of its closest traditional allies.
In Israel, the proposal to extend the military operation into the heart of Gaza City and central areas of the territory, where officials believe hostages are being held, has caused growing concern, especially among the families of the captives and their supporters.
After two brief cease-fires and some Israeli military rescue missions, there are 50 hostages still in the enclave, of whom 20 are believed to be alive, according to Israeli officials.
The military says it already controls more than 75 percent of Gaza. Polls have shown that most Israelis want the war to end in a deal that would see the hostages released. But the Israeli government’s stated goal of “total victory” over Hamas has yet to be achieved.
“Hamas’s refusal to release the hostages obligates us to take additional decisions regarding the way to advance the goals of the war,” Israel Katz, Israel’s defense minister, said in a statement on Wednesday.
He listed those goals as “eliminating Hamas while creating the conditions for the hostages’ release and ensuring the safety of the Israeli communities,” meaning those near the Gaza border.
Mr. Netanyahu’s office told some Israeli reporters this week that he was discussing expanding the military campaign into the rest of Gaza, including areas where the hostages are thought to be held. The prime minister’s office said the military was opposed to maneuvering in those areas for fear of endangering the hostages.
But officials briefed on the government’s thinking said that no final decision had been made, and some Israeli analysts said that the proposal may be meant as a threat to try to pressure Hamas into making concessions for a deal.
Hamas has said it will not agree to a deal without firm guarantees that the war will end. Israel has said that the conflict will not stop unless Hamas disarms, a demand that the group has publicly rejected.
Far-right members of Mr. Netanyahu’s governing coalition have been pressing for a full Israeli occupation of Gaza to pave the way for renewed Jewish settlement there 20 years after Israel withdrew its forces and settlers from the enclave. Mr. Netanyahu relies on their support to remain in power.
Mr. Netanyahu held a security consultation on Wednesday with Yair Lapid, the centrist leader of Israel’s parliamentary opposition. After the meeting, Mr. Lapid said he had told the prime minister that “occupying Gaza is a very bad idea.”
“The Israeli people are not interested in this war,” he added.
Mr. Lapid on Tuesday had said in a statement that conquering all of Gaza would “lead to all the hostages dying of hunger, beatings and torture.” Such action, he said, would also lead to more Israeli soldiers being killed.
On Tuesday, thousands of Israelis protested around the country against the government’s plans to expand the fighting and take over all of Gaza.
“We will not allow the hostages to be sacrificed on the alter of a forever war — there must be a deal now,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a grass roots organization that has advocated for the captives and their families, said in a statement.
About 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which ignited the war, and about 250 more were taken to Gaza, according to the Israeli government.
Videos released over the weekend showed two living captives looking emaciated and frail, shocking many Israelis and raising questions about how much longer the men could survive.
More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza, including thousands of children, according to Gaza health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Most of the enclave’s two million residents have been displaced, often more than once, and much of the territory has been reduced to rubble.
Isabel Kershner, a Times correspondent in Jerusalem, has been reporting on Israeli and Palestinian affairs since 1990.
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