More hardship in store for the embattled population of Gaza as the Israeli cabinet on Monday approved plans to capture the entire Palestinian enclave and stay there for an unspecified amount of time.

It also calls for hundreds of thousands of people to move to Gaza’s south and would see Israel take over aid deliveries to the devastated territory.

A spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he’s “alarmed” by the Israeli decision.

Israel’s army spokesperson, Brigadier General Effie Defrin, said the objective of the operation is to “return our hostages, topple and subdue the Hamas regime”.

“These two goals are intertwined. The operation will include a broad offensive that includes moving a majority of Gaza’s population to protect it in a sterile area from Hamas,” he said.

This would likely amount to their forcible displacement and exacerbate an already dire humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

Defrin added that the operation would include “continued airstrikes, the elimination of terrorists, and the dismantling of infrastructure”.

Details of the plan were not formally announced, and its exact timing and implementation were not clear.

Its approval came hours after the Israeli military chief said the army was calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers.

An defence official said the operation would not begin until after US President Donald Trump wraps up his expected visit to the Middle East this month.

The announcement has angered the families of the remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza, who fear that any extension of the conflict will endanger their loved ones.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem on Monday to protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, calling for a deal to release the captives.

Israel says 59 hostages remain in Gaza, although about 35 of them are believed to be dead.

Since Israel ended a ceasefire with the Hamas militant group in mid-March, it has unleashed fierce strikes on the territory that have killed hundreds.

It has captured swathes of territory and now controls roughly 50 per cent of the enclave.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.

Israel’s offensive has displaced more than 90 per cent of Gaza’s population. Palestinian health officials say more than 52,000 people there have been killed, many of them women and children.

The officials do not distinguish between combatants and civilians in their count.

A handful of pro-Sudan demonstrators protested outside the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Monday.

They were angry about a decision made by the top United Nations court to throw out Sudan’s genocide case against the United Arab Emirates.

The ICJ found that it does not have jurisdiction in the case, although it noted deep concern about the spirally violence in Sudan.

While both countries are signatories to the 1948 Genocide Convention, the UAE has a “reservation” to the part of the treaty that allow countries to sue others at the ICJ over disputes.

Sudanese protester Mustafa Dar expressed his disappointment and said they are only asking for justice.

“Justice will never stop in one place, we go further and we will always be looking for our justice. So, what is happening today, this is not the end of the game,” he said.

Khartoum had accused the UAE of complicity in genocide in the ongoing civil war in Sudan through its alleged support for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

It said the Emiratis were arming and funding the rebel paramilitary in its deadly war against the Sudanese army.

As many as 150,000 people are believed to have died in the over two years of conflict between the two sides, and more than 14 million others have been displaced.

The UAE, which has denied the accusations, applauded the  court’s decision.

Following the hearing, a senior UAE foreign affairs official, Reem Ketait, told reporters that her country “bears no responsibility for the conflict in Sudan”.

“On the contrary, the atrocities committed by the warring parties are well documented,” she said.

Both the RSF and Sudan’s military have been accused of human rights abuses. Meanwhile the civil war shows no sign of easing.

South African troops participating under the umbrella of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will complete their withdrawal by the end of May.

This was announced by the South African National Defense Force Chief Gen. Rudzani Maphwanya in Pretoria, who also confirmed that a total of 13 trucks carrying 57 soldiers had already departed.

He further said that the withdrawal follows a peace truce between the Congolese army and the M23 rebels, which highlights the long-term objective that was being pursued by the SADC forces in the volatile region.

The SADC troops, which also include those from Tanzania and Malawi, had begun moving out from DRC earlier last week and had traveled through neighboring Rwanda to Tanzania and flew home from there.

Fourteen South African and three Malawian soldiers were killed in fighting with M23 in January.

The southern African regional body decided in March to end its peacekeeping mission early and bring the troops home.

M23 controls Goma and a second major city in eastern Congo and is supported by around 4,000 troops from Rwanda, according to experts from the United Nations.

Congo and Rwanda have held talks mediated by Qatar and supported by the United States and say they are working toward a peace agreement.