JERUSALEM/GAZA, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Monday that the country's new offensive in the Gaza Strip would be "intensive," referring to a plan approved by his security cabinet on escalating the ongoing campaign in Gaza.

The security cabinet voted overnight in favor of the plan, under which Israel would expand the offensive to seize Gaza, control aid, and relocate the population to the south of the enclave.

"We are on the eve of an intensified incursion into Gaza," Netanyahu said in a video posted on social media platform X, adding that the goals of the operation are to "defeat Hamas and, in the process, secure the release of the hostages."

He noted that under the plan, Israel would shift its current strategy, moving from withdrawal after destroying Hamas' military capabilities to retaining control over seized Gaza territory.

However, the new offensive plan has sparked controversy among the senior ranks of the Israeli military.

Israel's military chief Eyal Zamir told ministers during a security cabinet meeting early on Monday that, according to the army's assessment, the new operation "would endanger the lives of the hostages," Israel's state-owned Kan TV News reported.

Nitzan Alon, the military's hostage affairs coordinator, echoed the concern. According to Israel's Channel 12 News, Alon also told ministers that the offensive "puts the hostages at risk."

The stronger the military strikes, "the more violent the militants become, taking out their frustration on the hostages," he said.

Earlier in the day, a senior Israeli security official told Xinhua that Israel has given Hamas a "window of opportunity" until mid-May to reach a hostage deal before implementing the newly approved operation plan.

"There is a window of opportunity to reach a hostage deal ... before the conclusion of U.S. President (Donald) Trump's visit to the region," he said. Trump is expected to tour the Middle East from May 13 to 16, with planned stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

The Israeli official added that Israel insists on the deal presented by Netanyahu in early March, which includes the release of additional Israeli hostages in exchange for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza and a promise to discuss a long-term truce.

"If no hostage deal is reached, the expanded operation will begin with full intensity and will not end until all its objectives are achieved," he cautioned. "Unlike in the past, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will remain in every area it seizes to prevent the return of terror activity," the official noted.

He said Israel would lift the blockade on humanitarian aid only after launching the expanded operation, and a "mass evacuation" of civilians toward southern Gaza would be conducted. Meanwhile, the aid distribution, he said, would be carried out by "civilian contractors" in "secured zones under IDF's control," including "a sterile area" to be established in Rafah, southern Gaza.

"Under any temporary or permanent arrangements, Israel will not withdraw from the security buffer zone around Gaza," he said.

On Monday, Hamas denounced Israel's new aid distribution plan as "political blackmail." In a press statement, Hamas argued that the plan would convert humanitarian aid into a political tool, violate international law, and contribute to "starvation and forced displacement" in the coastal enclave. Notably, the faction has yet to make a response to the Israeli threat to expand its military campaign.

Israel has prevented goods and supplies from entering Gaza since March 2, after the first phase of a January ceasefire agreement with Hamas expired. It argued that the aid blockade aims to prevent Hamas from seizing control of supplies and to pressure the faction into accepting its offer for extending the first phase of the truce deal.

On March 18, Israel resumed military assaults in Gaza, effectively ending the phased truce. According to an update by the health authorities in Gaza on Monday, the renewed Israeli strikes have killed 2,459 Palestinians in Gaza, bringing the overall death toll since the conflict began in October 2023 to 52,567.

Several rounds of mediated talks have been held recently, but all have failed to restore the Gaza ceasefire due to differences between the parties.