The Israeli military announced on Sunday that it aims to control 75% of the Gaza Strip within the next two months, part of an intensified campaign to dismantle Hamas. The plan includes pushing Palestinian civilians into the remaining 25% of the enclave as troops sweep the area.

The shift marks a tactical pivot for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, moving from targeted raids to long-term territorial occupation. “This is about conquering and holding,” said an Israeli official, noting the strategy is designed to force Hamas to release remaining hostages and compel its leadership to flee.

U.S.-Backed Aid Delivery Bypasses UN

Israel will also launch a controversial, U.S.-supported aid distribution plan as early as Monday. American contractors, not the United Nations or traditional aid groups, will handle food delivery across four newly built complexes in southern and central Gaza.

Each family must send a representative to collect aid every five days—a plan humanitarian organizations have rejected as dangerous and unethical. “It forces civilians to cross active war zones and violates the principle of neutrality,” one aid group stated.

The policy follows a two-month blockade of aid that created dire shortages of food, medicine, and fuel. Israel argues the new plan prevents Hamas from seizing aid for its own use, but aid groups say those concerns are overstated.

As part of its campaign, Israel has escalated strikes on Hamas leaders and infrastructure. A recent airstrike reportedly killed Mohammed Sinwar, the brother of Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar. The Israeli military said it has already destroyed 25% of Hamas’s extensive tunnel network and will demolish any infrastructure linked to the group in newly occupied areas.

Still, the toll on Gaza’s population is immense. More than 53,000 Palestinians have been killed since October, though officials haven’t specified how many were combatants. Many civilians have been displaced repeatedly by the fighting, and it remains unclear when—or if—they will be allowed to return to areas seized by Israeli forces.