During a visit to the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said the military will approve “the plan for the next stage of the war” later in the day, as Israel gears up to expand its ongoing offensive against Hamas by conquering Gaza City.

His comments came after the security cabinet voted earlier this month to approve a military offensive in the northern Gaza Strip with the aim of defeating and capturing what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called “the last Hamas stronghold,” which is the Palestinian enclave’s largest city.

The plans, based on a general outline green-lit by Zamir last week, were discussed at the Southern Command Saturday night.

In remarks published by the IDF, Zamir said: “Today we are approving the plan for the next stage of the war.”

“We will maintain the momentum of Operation Gideon’s Chariots while focusing on Gaza City,” he said, referring to a military offensive against Hamas that was launched in May.

“We will continue to strike until Hamas is defeated, with our eyes on the hostages. We will act with a sophisticated, measured, and responsible strategy. The IDF will employ all its capabilities on land, in the air, and at sea in order to strike Hamas with force,” Zamir said.

The IDF chief said, “Soon we will move on to the next stage of Operation Gideon’s Chariots, in which we will continue to deepen the harm to Hamas in Gaza City until its defeat.”

“Operation Gideon’s Chariots has met its objectives,” Zamir said, adding that “Hamas no longer possesses the same capabilities it had before the operation; we have dealt it a severe blow.”

Zamir said the offensive against the terror group is not “localized,” but rather part of a “long-term and planned program, with a multifront vision to strike all components of the axis, first and foremost Iran.”

The plans to expand offensive operations in Gaza comes following 22 months of war that have created dire humanitarian conditions in the enclave, and raised international alarm over the fate of the war-torn Strip, which is home to about 2.2 million people. It has also drawn sharp backlash in Israel, where relatives of hostages kidnapped by Hamas were holding a nationwide strike Sunday in protest of the plan. They are calling for an end........

© The Times of Israel