Gaza: A senior Israeli official stated that the Israeli army will expand its ground operation in Gaza to occupy 25 percent of the Strip in the coming weeks, according to the American website Axios.

According to National News Agency – Lebanon, Israeli officials said, citing Sky News, that the ground operation in the Gaza Strip is part of the “maximum pressure” campaign, which aims to force Hamas to accept the release of more hostages.

The sources added that “reoccupying the Gaza Strip could go beyond the declared objectives of the war and could be used as a pretext to pressure Palestinians to leave Gaza.”

Axios explained that this move, which has already begun, is forcing Palestinian civilians who returned to their homes in the north and south of the Gaza Strip after the ceasefire was declared in January to be displaced once again.

It continued that if a new agreement on the release of the hostages and a ceasefire is not reached, there are fears that the ground operation will expand, potentially leading to the reoccupation of most of the Gaza Strip and the displacement of approximately two million Palestinians into a small “humanitarian zone.”