TEL AVIV, May 6 -- Israel approved plans on Monday to seize the entire Gaza Strip and to stay in the Palestinian territory for an unspecified amount of time, two Israeli officials said, a move that, if implemented, would vastly expand Israel's operations there and likely draw fierce international opposition. The new plan, which was approved in an early morning vote by Israeli Cabinet ministers, also calls for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to move to Gaza's south. That would likely amount to their forcible displacement and exacerbate an already dire humanitarian crisis. Its approval came hours after the Israeli military chief said the army was calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers. The plan may be another measure by Israel to try to pressure Hamas into making concessions in ceasefire negotiations. A third person, a defence official, said the new plan would not begin until after US President Donald Trump wraps up his expected visit to the Middle East this month, allowing for the possibility that Israel might agree to a ceasefire in the meantime. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 after a decades-long occupation and then imposed a blockade on the territory along with Egypt. Since Israel ended a ceasefire with the Hamas militant group in mid-March, Israel has unleashed fierce strikes on the territory that have killed hundreds. It has captured swathes of territory and now controls roughly 50% of Gaza. Before the truce ended, Israel halted all humanitarian aid into the territory, including food, fuel and water, setting off what is believed to the be the worst humanitarian crisis in nearly 19 months of war. The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Israel says 59 captives remain in Gaza, although about 35 are believed to be dead. Israel's offensive has displaced more than 90% of Gaza's population and, Palestinian health officials say, killed more than 52,000 people there, many of them women and children. The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said on Monday that the bodies of 33 people killed by Israeli strikes have been brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours. The Israeli military offered no immediate comment on the strikes. The Israeli officials said the plan approved includes the "capturing of the strip and the holding of territories". Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the Cabinet had decided on a "powerful operation in Gaza", including "a movement of the population to protect it"....