Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to order a full military occupation of the Gaza Strip to force Hamas to free the hostages, according to local reports.

The expansion of the war would see the military, which already controls about 75% of Gaza, take over the remaining areas and conduct operations where the hostages are believed to be held, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The move was reportedly made without the input of the Israeli military’s chief of staff Eyal Zamir — with Netanyahu instructing him to fall in line or resign, according to the internal memo sent out.

The decision to escalate the 21-month war comes despite calls from within Israel and around the world to find a diplomatic end to the fighting — with growing backlash over widespread hunger in Gaza and concern for the safety of the hostages.

Senior Israeli officials who discussed the occupation plan with Netanyahu believe that Hamas will not free the remaining 50 hostages without being forced to surrender, local Channel 12 reported.

That view has put pressure on Netanyahu and his cabinet following the recent release of Hamas propaganda videos showing emaciated hostages suffering and begging for food and water inside the terror group’s tunnels.

“If we do not act now, the hostages will die of hunger and Gaza will remain under Hamas control,” the officials told the local outlet.

The move to occupy all of Gaza would go against the Israel Defense Forces’ previous assessment opposing such a plan due to the realities of war and possible harm to the remaining hostages — 20 of whom are believed to be living.

The Israeli army had warned that a full occupation of Gaza, including military presence in crowded civilian areas and the few cities spared from the fighting, would take years to sift through and locate Hamas’ remaining cells.

Such action could also endanger the lives of the hostages, according to family members, with reports going around earlier this month that Hamas sent an order to its members to kill any captives in their custody if Israeli soldiers were closing in on them.

The tragedy played out last year when six hostages, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, were executed by terrorists before Israeli soldiers could reach them.

“A full occupation of the Strip is a death sentence for the living hostages and a security, humanitarian and diplomatic disaster,” Israeli lawmaker Gilad Kariv said in a statement after learning of the controversial plan.

The families of the hostages have also panned previous plans to expand the war, urging their leaders to keep the fighting out of the few safe bastions in Gaza where their relatives are likely being held.

A group of 19 former Israeli military, intelligence and police chiefs have also warned against expanding the war, claiming that the Jewish state is “on the precipice of defeat” if the fight continues. 

The retired Israeli leaders, including former prime minister and IDF chief Ehud Barak, accused Netanyahu of keeping the war alive for the sole purpose of preserving the fragile right-wing coalition that is keeping him in power.

Netanyahu depends on a slim majority, with his coalition voting to fire Israel’s attorney general on Monday as she was overseeing the prime minister’s corruption trial.  

Netanyahu’s supporters have also repeatedly threatened to resign and dissolve his government unless the war continues with the goal of fully eradicating Hamas. 

The former Israeli leaders, however, say the full elimination of Hamas is an unrealitic goal and a “fantasy” held by Netanyahu’s cabinet. 

Former Mossad director Tamir Pardo was among the men who warned that an expanded war would exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and risk further isolating Israel. 

“What the world sees today is of our own creation,” he said of the images of starving children in Gaza.

“We are hiding behind a lie that we wrought,” he added of the need to keep the war going. “This lie was sold to the Israeli public, and the world has long since understood that it doesn’t reflect the real picture.”

While the former officials, tens of thousands of protesters in Israel, and leaders around the world have called for a diplomatic end to the war, there remains no signs that the cease-fire talks between Hamas and Israel will continue. 

Israel and the US pulled their mediators from Qatar earlier this month, accusing Hamas of negotiating in bad faith and acting “selfish.” 

Hamas has maintained that it will not agree to a hostage exchange deal without a framework that would permanently end the war. 

The terror group has also demanded that it be allowed to retain its weapons and control over Gaza. 

Netanyahu, however, has slammed the conditions as a non-starter and has reiterated that the war will not end until Hamas is completely destroyed.

Meanwhile, President Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said the US and Israel were close to a “very, very good plan” to end the war in Gaza and free the remaining hostages on Sunday.

Witkoff did not elaborate on what the new plan was, nor is it clear if he was referring to Netanyahu’s plan to expand the war. 

The US had previously backed a diplomatic end to the war, calling on Hamas to free all the hostages in exchange for a temporary truce and increase of humanitarian aid to Gaza.