After 22 months of full-scale war, killing more than 60,000 Palestinians and forcing Gaza to the brink of famine, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly preparing to defy international, domestic and military opinion by escalating the war on Gaza still further and ordering its full occupation.

There has been growing global alarm over Israel’s actions in the Palestinian enclave and strict restrictions on the entry of aid, marked by a rise in deaths from starvation.