Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has approved the military's plan to expand the genocidal operations and occupy Gaza City, while ignoring a ceasefire proposal put forward by Egypt and Qatar which was accepted by Palestinian group Hamas.
The minister also authorised the call-up of around 60,000 reservists for the renewed operation in Gaza City, which is densely populated with Palestinians who had fled other parts of the enclave.
Israel also approved a major settlement project in an area of the occupied West Bank that the international community has warned threatens the viability of a future Palestinian state.
"I am pleased to announce that just a short while ago, the civil administration approved the planning for the construction of the E1 neighbourhood," the mayor of the illegal Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, Guy Yifrach, said in a statement.
The latest ceasefire proposal contains only slight modifications to an earlier one advanced by the United States and accepted by Israel, according to an Associated Press report citing Egyptian and Hamas officials.
That US proposal was for a 60-day ceasefire, during which some of the remaining Israelis held at Gaza would be released and the sides would negotiate a permanent ceasefire and the return of the rest.
Israel's plans for the complete occupation of Gaza have faced resistance from both inside and outside the country. Several countries have called for an end to the genocidal war, which has so far killed at least 62,000 Palestinians, more than half of them being women and children. Israel has also starved to death at least 263 Palestinians, including 112 children.
Israel has already begun the intensified genocidal operations in the eastern parts of Gaza City, with a surge of attacks reported on densely populated areas, where rows of homes have been levelled by Israeli heavy artillery. At least 35 Palestinians have been killed in different attacks accross the enclave since dawn on Wednesday, 10 of them being aid seekers.
Families of Israelis held in Gaza have slammed the plan for the occupation of Gaza as a "stab in the hearts of the public in Israel," and accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of ignoring a deal to secure their release and a ceasefire.
However, Israel keeps pushing for the continuation of the genocidal war, reiterating that its goals have not been achieved yet, including disarming Hamas and the return of all Israelis held in Gaza, even after 22 months.
President Donald Trump gave support to those goals Monday in a social media post, saying Hamas must be "confronted and destroyed" to ensure the return of the remaining Israelis held in Gaza.
Lauding Netanyahu --who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes in Gaza-- as a "war hero," Trump said he believes himself to be one too.
"He’s (Netanyahu) a good man. He’s in there fighting … He’s a war hero, because we worked together. He’s a war hero. I guess I am, too,” Trump said in an interview with conservative radio host Mark Levin.
Trump also took credit for securing the release of Israeli captives in the past.
"I’m the one that got all the hostages back … I’ve had so many letters from parents and from the kids themselves and the people that got out … none of these people would have been back, but I got them back," he claimed.
Meanwhile, a diplomatic showdown erupted between Israel and Australia after the Australian government, headed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, cancelled the visa of Israeli politician Simcha Rothman, whose ultranationalist party is in Netanyahu’s governing coalition.
Irked by the move, Netanyahu called Albanese a “weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews.”
Albanese, whose government is planning to recognise Palestinian statehood, brushed off the comments on Wednesday, telling reporters, “I don’t take these things personally, I engage with people diplomatically.”
However, Tony Burke, Australia’s home affairs minister, chose to hit back at Netanyahu, pointing out his conduct in the genocidal war on Gaza.
"Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry," he said.
(With inputs from AP, AFP)