Tel Aviv, May 26 (RHC)-- The Israeli army said on Sunday that it planned to capture 75 per cent of Gaza and push Palestinian civilians into three designated zones.   Although Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has repeatedly said he wants to control the whole of the Gaza Strip, the army’s announcement on Sunday offers the first details of a plan to boost its control from 40 per cent currently.

The army estimates it will take about two months to create three zones for civilians in Gaza; one in the Mawasi area along the southern coast; a second in Deir al-Balah and Nuseirat in central Gaza; and a third in and around Gaza City in the north.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say that about a million people reside in Gaza City, 700,000 in the Mawasi area and 300,000-350,000 in central Gaza.

Observers say that the focus will also shift from trying to kill Hamas fighters to capturing their territory and destroying their infrastructure.

Though the move suggests a possible reduction in violence, the forcible displacement of civilians into designated spaces is unlikely to help repair relations with Israel’s allies, who in recent weeks have issued scathing criticism of its offensive.

The IDF said they have killed about 800 Hamas members since they launched an offensive against the terror group in early March.

An Israeli official told The Telegraph earlier this year that some 20,000 terrorists had been killed between Oct 7 and the ceasefire in January this year.

Around 25 per cent of the estimated 600 miles of tunnels in Gaza have been destroyed by the army since Oct 7, most of which, the army claims, were being used for offensive means and weapons manufacturing.  Many of the remaining tunnels are used by Hamas to move around Gaza, the army says.

[ SOURCE: PRESS TV and NEWS AGENCIES ]