Israel’s security cabinet has approved a proposal by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the Israeli military to seize control of Gaza City, according to Barak Ravid, Israeli reporter for Axios and CNN, citing an unnamed source within the Israeli government.

Shortly afterward, the office of the Israeli Prime Minister confirmed the news.

The plan, proposed by Netanyahu and discussed at the meeting, involves encircling Gaza City and relocating approximately one million residents to the southern part of the enclave.

Subsequently, a senior Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post that the military will “target terrorist strongholds in the city,” with operations later expanding to central refugee camps. The operation is expected to last at least six months.

It is unclear why the statement refers only to the conquest of Gaza City, rather than the entire Gaza Strip, as Netanyahu had stated was his goal last Thursday.

Gaza City is part of the 25% of the Gaza Strip that the Israeli Defense Forces have not yet captured, along with several refugee camps in central Gaza.

These are areas where Israel believes remaining hostages are being held, which is why the IDF Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, expressed opposition to Netanyahu’s operation plan, fearing it could endanger the captives.

According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, Israel will provide humanitarian aid to civilians outside the combat zones, in connection with what it called the cabinet’s decision to support “Netanyahu’s proposal to defeat Hamas.”

The majority of the cabinet members also supported a list of five principles that Israel will demand from Hamas in exchange for ending the war, Netanyahu’s office said:

1. Disarmament of Hamas
2. Return of all 50 remaining hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive
3. Demilitarization of the Gaza Strip
4. Israeli security control over Gaza
5. The establishment of an alternative political government, neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority

According to Channel 12, during the meeting Netanyahu stated that he has no intention to “perpetuate the presence of Hamas,” but to “defeat it.” He added that “the current approach has not led to the release of the hostages, and we are not going to continue this way.”

Israel, with support from the United States and other international partners, plans to flood Gaza with humanitarian aid, up to four times more than the current level, according to Israeli media.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said that the United States plans to open 16 humanitarian aid centers, modeled on those operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.