Israel's plan to take full control of Gaza City - and potentially the entire territory - has triggered unprecedented international condemnation.
Yet in Gaza City itself, the reaction among Palestinians is one of weary resignation that borders on indifference.
After 22 months of relentless warfare, many residents simply wonder how much worse things could possibly get.
Around one million residents are already crammed into the western part of the devastated city, mostly living in tents or buildings on the verge of collapse.
Displaced countless times, malnourished and driven to despair by the humiliating aid distribution process – this is how aid workers describe the life of Palestinians almost two years into the war.
International humanitarian groups slammed the plan to conquer Gaza City and force the population to evacuate by 7 October, warning it will worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis.
Caroline Willeman, a project coordinator with Médecins Sans Frontieres, described the situation there as "apocalyptic" and the notion of another forced exodus as "unfathomable".
"We can't imagine how this is going to work - squeezing another one million people in southern Gaza," Ms Willeman told RTÉ News from Gaza City.
"Unfortunately, in the last 22 months, we've said many times that it can't get worse than this - and somehow it did."
Though the international backlash to the plan was swift and widespread, Benjamin Netanyahu may also discover that things can indeed get worse, but this time at home.
The announcement was met with fury by sections of Israeli society, though many still supported the security cabinet’s decision to "go after Hamas".
The families of hostages denounced the move as a "death sentence" for their loved ones, accusing the government of embarking "on another march of recklessness, on the backs of the hostages, the soldiers, and Israeli society as a whole".
The families' anguish has been particularly acute follow Hamas' release of videos showing emaciated captives, footage described by Western leaders as "sickening".
But, this time, it is not only civil society that has questioned Mr Netanyahu's strategy. The very backbone of his war effort - the Israeli Defence Forces - has challenged the rationale behind prolonging the conflict.
Israel's top general Eyal Zamir warned that the plan would endanger the lives of the hostages held by Hamas and further stretch an already overstretched military.
The media reported soaring exhaustion among forces recently engaged in fighting not only in Gaza, but also in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Yemen, and the West Bank.
There is "fatigue and disillusionment with the government" within the army Professor Yossi Mekelberg, from the Chatham House think tank in London, told RTÉ News.
According to reports, the escalation could require up to 200,000 additional reservists - civilians who remain on call for military duty.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid called the decision a disaster "which will lead to many more disasters", a sentiment echoed by the statement from the head of the Democrats party, Yair Golan, who called the plan to expand the war "a disaster for generations ... for reasons of political survival and messianic visions".
Opinion polls have consistently shown that a majority of Israelis believe that the Prime Minister should end the war immediately through a ceasefire that would secure the release of all hostages.
"Israel is falling apart because of the division that Netanyahu is sowing within the society," Prof Mekelberg argued, highlighting recent political developments including the dismissal of the Attorney General and the chief of the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal intelligence service.
Mr Netanyahu, who is currently on trial on corruption charges, has long been accused of undermining the judicial system and the rule of law.
His critics maintain that the Prime Minister is prolonging the war to remain in power, supported and even pushed further by far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who have called for the displacement of Gazans and Israeli resettlement in the territory.
With his long-running corruption trial still ongoing and coalition partners threatening to topple his government if he agrees to a ceasefire, the escalation in Gaza appears to serve Mr Netannyahu’s immediate political survival.
"This is the disarray that Israeli democracy is in," Prof Mekelberg said, accusing the Israeli Prime Minister of moving towards authoritarianism.
But he also worries that there is insufficient momentum within an increasingly divided and war-weary society to resist the threat to democracy. There is strong support, meanwhile, for his policies in the ultra-orthodox and settler communities.
Although the Israeli Prime Minister vowed that he doesn’t want to "keep Gaza" and has not publicly endorsed right-wing calls for Jewish settlements in Gaza, Prof Mekelberg warned that, in Israel, "nothing is too crazy not to become a reality in a matter of months or years".
Meanwhile, Gazans and humanitarian workers based in the north of the territory are sinking into more uncertainty.
After 22 months of destruction and deprivation, many expressed defiance and vowed to remain in Gaza City for as long as possible.
Mr Netanyahu appears equally defiant - but his survival depends on very different calculations.
Whether he can weather this crisis may depend on how long his coalition partners prioritise ideology over political survival.
