"There is still a window of opportunity until President Trump concludes his visit to the Middle East, if Hamas understands we are serious," Elkin told Kan on Monday.
Already in control of around a third of Gaza's territory, Israel resumed ground operations in March after the collapse of a U.S.-backed ceasefire that had halted fighting for two months. It has since imposed a total blockade of aid into the enclave.
Elkin said that rather than launching raids in specific areas and then leaving them as the military had done so far, the Israeli forces will now hold the territories they seize, until Hamas is defeated or agrees to disarm and leave Gaza.