Israel's military has said it plans to move displaced Palestinians in Gaza to "humanitarian islands" in the middle of the strip, ahead of any offensive in the southern city of Rafah.
More than 1.4 million people are sheltering there after fleeing the fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas in northern and central areas.
No timeframe has yet been given about when the operation could happen.
The UN and US have warned a full-scale assault in Rafah could be disastrous.
Israel has repeatedly signalled its need for such an operation, insisting Hamas cannot be fully removed in Gaza without targeting Rafah.
It is conscious, too, that the group's most senior leaders are still at large, almost certainly now in the southernmost part of the strip.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza after Hamas gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on 7 October and took 253 other people hostage. Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says more than 31,300 people have been killed in the territory since then.
It is not yet clear what the proposed "humanitarian islands" would look like, or exactly how they would operate.
Rear Adm Daniel Hagari, the chief spokesman of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), suggested in a briefing to journalists that they would include temporary housing and that aid would be provided to people who moved there.
But there are still plenty of logistical questions to answer.
Moving more than half of Gaza's population from Rafah to the centre of the strip would take time, potentially weeks.
Cars are in short supply now, as is fuel for them, so most people would have to walk once again, carrying their belongings.
Palestinians are hungrier and weaker than they were five months ago, which would also make large-scale movement slow.
The central part of the strip where Israel proposes to relocate them has been badly damaged by repeated ground and air attacks.
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said he was yet to receive further details, but "needed to see a plan to get civilians out of harm's way" of any ground operation in Rafah and ensure they had food, shelter and medicine.
Benny Gantz, a member of Israel's war cabinet, had suggested a new military operation would begin in Rafah by the start of the Islamic holy month Ramadan if no new hostage release deal was agreed.
That did not happen, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to reference it when he addresses the Israeli people.
"To win this war, we must destroy the remaining Hamas battalions in Rafah," Mr Netanyahu said in a speech on Tuesday. "If not, Hamas will regroup, rearm and reconquer Gaza and then we're back to square one."
ReutersMore than a million people are crammed into makeshift camps and other shelters across Rafah
The IDF would also need to bolster its numbers again ahead of any new ground offensive. Many of the reservists who were called up in the early days of the war have now been released from duty, and would need to be brought back into operation.
Rear Adm Hagari told journalists that the IDF was also "trying to flood" Gaza with humanitarian aid by opening up multiple routes by land, sea and air.
He said US military experts were due to arrive in Israel this week to discuss with the IDF a US plan to build a floating dock and temporary pier off Gaza's coast. It would be able to receive containerloads of food, water and medicine.
Mr Blinken emphasised that the floating dock, which will take between one and two months to become fully operational, would be "a complement to - not a substitute for - other ways of getting humanitarian assistance into Gaza".
"In particular, overland routes remain the most critical way to get assistance in and then to people who need it," he said.
The UN has warned that half a million people are on the brink of famine in Gaza.
Israel, as the occupying power, has the responsibility to see that food and medicine gets to civilians.
Source: BBC
