Israel’s Advance Into Gaza Lays Ground for Full-Scale Occupation
Evidence of the plan is in plain sight, with Israel now controlling more of the enclave than at any point during the war
An Israeli tank moves to a position along the border with northern Gaza, in March.
Photographer: Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images
Israel controls more of Gaza than at any point during the war, part of a plan that officials increasingly describe as leading to a full military occupation.
Israel calculates this new strategy would improve its chances of definitively uprooting Iranian-backed Hamas. But taking control of the Palestinian enclave for the first time in two decades would be a high-stakes gamble — it would risk increasing the death toll in Gaza, siphoning more reserve soldiers away from an economy stifled by war, and further isolating Israel.