The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) plans to occupy 75% of the Gaza Strip within two months as part of a new offensive against the Hamas terrorist group.
This is reported by The Times of Israel, whose journalists have reviewed the plans of the Israeli army.
On March 18, Israel resumed its attacks on Hamas, launching a surprise wave of airstrikes that ended a two-year ceasefire. Since then, IDF has deployed five divisions — tens of thousands of troops — to the Gaza Strip and is preparing for a major ground offensive. The goal is to destroy Hamas’ military wing and its civilian administration in Gaza unless the group agrees to release hostages it is holding.
According to the plan, after the start of the major offensive, the Palestinian population will be displaced into three small areas in Gaza:
- a new “safer zone” in the Mawashi area on the southern coast of the Gaza Strip, where Israel had previously declared a “humanitarian zone”;
- a strip of territory in central Gaza — Deir al-Balaha and Nuseirat — where IDF has not yet conducted ground operations;
- downtown Gaza City, where many Palestinians returned during the ceasefire earlier this year.
IDF estimates that about 700 000 Palestinians will be in the Mawasi area, another 300 000-350 000 in central Gaza, and approximately one million in Gaza City.
This means that the Gaza Stripʼs two million population will be crammed into an area that represents only 25% of the total area when Israel launches an expanded ground operation.
After that, the IDF plans to seize the rest of the Gaza Strip, destroy Hamas infrastructure, demolish most of the buildings, and hold the area for the foreseeable future. This includes the complete capture of Rafah Khan Yunis and the cities north of Gaza.
According to IDFʼs plans, the complete capture of 75% of Gaza should take only two months from the start of the operation. The army currently controls about 40% of the Gaza Strip.
Military officials say IDF is changing its focus from eliminating as many militants as possible — which was the main goal at the beginning of the war — to capturing territory and destroying Hamasʼ infrastructure.
Israelʼs war in the Gaza Strip
Active hostilities between Israel and Hamas have continued since October 7, 2023, when militants of the Islamist group launched a massive rocket attack on southern and central Israel, invaded the countryʼs territory, killed hundreds of civilians, and took hostages.
In mid-January 2025, Israel and Hamas reached an agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages. In the first phase of the agreement, Hamas pledged to release 33 Israeli hostages, while Israel pledged to release more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and begin withdrawing troops from the Gaza Strip. On March 2, Israel agreed to temporarily extend the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, a transitional period after the end of the first phase, as the parties have not yet been able to agree on how to proceed.
On the night of March 18, Israel resumed hostilities in the Gaza Strip after a two-month ceasefire. The strikes killed the de facto prime minister of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip Isaam Daalis and four other senior Hamas officials.
Israel has placed responsibility for the resumption of hostilities on Hamas — the militants allegedly rejected all proposals to extend the ceasefire. Therefore, any further negotiations with Hamas, if they are held at all, will only be "under fire" — that is, Israel refuses a ceasefire as a condition for starting new negotiations.
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