The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that the threat by US President Donald Trump and his envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, to resume the war on Gaza and kill its people, if Hamas does not release all remaining detainees, coincides with the development of actual plans to implement such a war.

Israel has drawn up plans for a series of escalatory steps to gradually increase pressure on Hamas now that talks to extend a ceasefire for an additional seven weeks in exchange for the release of prisoners have stalled, resuming the 16-month war on the Gaza Strip.

The steps began last week with Israel blocking humanitarian supplies from entering Gaza. Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s hardline finance minister, said the measures were discussed at a cabinet meeting late last week, and that the next steps would include cutting off electricity and water.

“If these steps fail, Israel could resort to a campaign of airstrikes and tactical raids against Hamas targets,” an Israeli security analyst familiar with the plan told the Wall Street Journal. “Israel could then displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who used the cease-fire to return to their homes in the northern part of the Gaza Strip,” the analyst said. “Ultimately, Israel could invade Gaza with a much larger military force than it has deployed so far in the conflict, aiming to hold the territory it effectively occupies while attacking the remnants of Hamas, people familiar with the plan said.”

Many in Israel feel that another invasion of Gaza is unavoidable.

The newspaper quotes Michael Makovsky, a former Pentagon official who is now president of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, a Washington-based think tank, as saying: “There is a determination to come back and eliminate Hamas no matter what. I believe Israel will go in forcefully and decisively.”

The plan comes as Israel and Hamas have reached a pivotal stage in the talks, with the two rivals holding diametrically opposed positions on key issues in the war, hampering efforts to keep negotiations going.

The United States and Israel want Hamas to release dozens of hostages it still holds, which Hamas has said it will only do under the terms of the ceasefire agreement it signed with Israel on January 15, which went into effect on January 19, and to abide by the three agreed-upon stages.

As an interim step, Israel is offering to extend the ceasefire for a month or so if Hamas continues to release hostages held in Gaza and has set a Saturday deadline for Hamas to comply. Arab mediators said that if Hamas does not do so, Israel has warned negotiators in the ceasefire talks that it will gradually escalate its punishment of Hamas to the point of returning to full-scale war.

The mediators said Hamas insists on opening talks on ending the war and refuses to discuss disarmament.

On Wednesday, Trump warned Hamas and the people of Gaza in a social media post that if they did not immediately release all remaining hostages in Gaza, “you are dead!” A day later, Trump and his envoy Witkoff suggested that the United States and Israel take joint action against Hamas. Some Israeli security analysts say Israel is in a much better position to enter Gaza than it was at the start of the war. Its ammunition stockpiles have been replenished, the restrictions and pressures imposed on it by the Biden administration have been lifted, and it no longer needs to keep large numbers of troops trapped on its northern border to protect against an attack by Hezbollah.

“Israel has destroyed much of Hamas’s fighting force and much of its infrastructure, including weapons-making facilities and key tunnels that connect important military sites. Foreign aid to the group has been cut off, and Israel believes it has killed 20,000 fighters, including senior commanders. While Hamas has managed to recruit thousands, they are inexperienced and will have difficulty training without becoming targets,” the paper claims.

The analyst, who has been briefed on Israel's plan, said the initial stages of escalation could take up to two months, during which time Israel could begin to remobilize its forces for a major invasion of Gaza with enough forces to hold the ground.

The newspaper quotes Yaakov Amidror, the former Israeli national security adviser, as saying: "There is no way to eliminate Hamas without occupying Gaza." Amidror said that Israel would need at least six months to a year to subdue Hamas.

Despite its weakened state, Hamas is likely to survive another round of fighting, said Tahani Mustafa, a senior Palestinian analyst at the International Crisis Group, a conflict resolution organization. “I think there has been an underestimation of Hamas’ numbers, its operational capacity, how it has managed to sustain such a long-term insurgency,” she said. “And in terms of its numbers, it doesn’t necessarily seem to be diminishing. I think its recruitment has gone up a lot.”

Hamas is deeply unpopular in Gaza, Tahani said, but the violence of the war and the lack of an alternative ensures its support.

Any effective takeover of Gaza would require Israel to dismantle the rest of Hamas’s extensive tunnel system, much of it still intact, in a laborious and destructive process, analysts said. Without a clear alternative to Hamas and a way to win over Gazans, some warned, Israel would remain mired in a long war of attrition.

Israel will face challenges in returning to war while Hamas still holds 59 hostages, including as many as 24 believed to be alive. Israel has acknowledged that at least 14 have been killed in military activity, including airstrikes. Israeli opinion polls have shown that a strong majority of the public supports moving to the next stage of the ceasefire, which would return the remaining living hostages to their homes in exchange for a permanent end to the war.