How Israel plans to escalate its war on Hamas in Gaza

JERUSALEM — As Israel’s forces push back into Gaza after a two-month ceasefire with Hamas, its political and military leaders are considering plans for a fresh ground campaign that could include a military occupation of the entire enclave for months or more.

The new and more aggressive tactics, according to current and former Israeli officials and others briefed, will probably also include direct military control of humanitarian aid; targeting more of Hamas’s civilian leadership; and evacuating women, children and vetted noncombatants from neighborhoods to “humanitarian bubbles” and laying siege to those who remain — a more intense version of a tactic employed last year in northern Gaza.

Israeli officials say they are still waiting for the outcome of ceasefire talks and no decisions have been made on whether — and how — to escalate the current phase of the offensive, which has so far consisted of mostly aerial bombardment.