Former Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman criticized the Security Cabinet's decision on Monday to expand the war on the Gaza Strip, saying the decision "harms national security."

Last night, the cabinet approved a plan to expand the genocide against the Palestinians, including occupying and remaining in the Gaza Strip, continuing the starvation plan, and denying humanitarian aid, according to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority.

Commenting on the decision, the Knesset Channel quoted Lieberman as saying: "The government is prepared to pay any price for the sake of power, even if the price is the lives of hostages (Israeli prisoners) or the lives of soldiers."

"The war that has been decided upon is a war for power," added Lieberman, who heads the right-wing opposition party Yisrael Beiteinu.

He continued: "This stems from purely political considerations, for the sake of the government's survival. This is what most members of the IDF General Staff and the General Security Service (Shin Bet) believe."

Earlier today, Benjamin Netanyahu's government announced the expansion of the ground incursion into the Gaza Strip to include—according to a political source—occupying and controlling its territory. This came after the cabinet approved the plan on Sunday evening, according to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority.

She added, "The operation is likely to last for several months and include several phases, starting with expanding ground operations in specific areas and then moving to other areas within the Gaza Strip."

In turn, former Defense Minister and leader of the opposition National Union party, Benny Gantz, said, "Unfortunately, the government is busy dividing the people, not winning the war," according to the Knesset Channel.

Channel 12 quoted Gantz as saying: "We will not wake up one morning to discover that Hamas has been eliminated, as the prime minister says, but if we continue to waste time, we may wake up one morning to discover that we have no living hostages."

On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked 11 military bases and 22 settlements adjacent to the Gaza Strip, killing and capturing Israelis. This attack was in response to the "daily crimes of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people and their holy sites, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque." The attack was dubbed "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood."

The announcement of the expansion of the war on Gaza sparked a wave of criticism from the families of Israeli prisoners, who described the plan as "a concession to the abductees and a disregard for national security and national cohesion."

The families added in a statement: "The government admits that it chose the territories over the return of the detainees, contrary to the will of more than 70 percent of the Israeli people."

The families' statement continued: "This decision will go down in history as a grave mistake that will be mourned for generations," according to the commission.

Tel Aviv estimates that there are 59 Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip, 24 of whom are still alive. Meanwhile, more than 9,900 Palestinians are languishing in its prisons, suffering torture, starvation, and medical neglect, many of whom have died, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.

In early March, the first phase of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel concluded. The agreement, which went into effect on January 19, was brokered by Egypt and Qatar and supervised by the United States, and the Palestinian movement adhered to it.

However, Netanyahu disavowed the start of his second phase and resumed the genocide in Gaza on March 18, responding to the most extreme faction within his right-wing government to protect his own interests, according to Hebrew media.

Since resuming its genocide in Gaza, Israel has killed 2,459 Palestinians and injured 6,569 others, most of them children and women, the Gaza Health Ministry reported Monday.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with full American support, has been committing genocide in Gaza, leaving more than 171,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing.