Israel’s so-called “political-security cabinet” has approved a plan to occupy Gaza City after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the regime’s intention to return the entire strip to Israeli occupation.

Early on Friday, Netanyahu's office said in a statement that the Israeli military “will prepare to take control of Gaza City", the largest city in the strip.

Axios reporter Barak Ravid, citing an Israeli official, said on X the plan involved expelling Palestinian civilians from Gaza City, in the north of the strip, and launching a ground offensive there.

Netanyahu, when asked if Israel would take over the entire coastal territory, told Fox News on Thursday that"we intend to".

This came while Israeli officials described a previous meeting this week with the head of the military as tense. They said military chief Eyal Zamir had expressed opposition to the idea of expanding Israel's occupation.

According to two official Israeli sources, any resolution by the so-called “security cabinet” would need to be approved by the full cabinet, which may not meet until Sunday.

The United Nations has called reports about a possible expansion of Israel's invasions in the Gaza Strip"deeply alarming".

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas also condemned Netanyahu's plan as an extension of his genocidal policies and displacement tactics against the Palestinian people.

"Netanyahu's plans to expand the aggression confirm beyond any doubt that he seeks to get rid of his captives and sacrifice them" to serve “his personal interests," the statement said.

Hamas had previously proposed a comprehensive prisoner swap deal that would see all captives held in Gaza be released at once, in exchange for an agreement that would permanently end the Israeli aggression against Gaza, ensure a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the strip and allow the unrestricted flow of aid to the besieged territory.

However, Netanyahu “rejected” the proposal and continued to impose more obstacles, the movement said last month.

In 2005, Israel officially withdrew from Gaza, the strip it had occupied continuously since 1967.

Netanyahu’s plan was also criticized by Israelis themselves, with hundreds of settlers gathering outside the prime minister's office in al-Quds on Thursday evening to protest against an expanded war.

The protesters demanded an immediate end to the genocidal war in Gaza in return for the release of all the Israeli captives held there.

"I’m here because I am sick and tired of this government. It’s ruined our life," Noa Starkman, a 55-year-old protesters, said.

There are reportedly 50 Israeli captives still held in Gaza, including 20 believed to be alive.

Israel has launched a genocidal war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, after Palestinian resistance fighters carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the Zionist entity in response to the regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

The regime’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed 61,258 Palestinians and injured 152,045 others, according to the health ministry.