The senior official said that during a meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said the new plan marked a shift in strategy.
The number of Gaza residents who have been displaced again since then was last estimated by the UN at around half a million.
Israel’s subsequent campaign in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of more than 50,983 people, according to the Hamas-run health authority.
The Gaza-based health authorities highlighted lack of adequate food, clean water, and ongoing ban on vaccinations.
Also on the agenda are consultations on Israel’s renewed military operation in the Gaza Strip as well as the EU’s next long-term budget.
Egypt, alongside Qatar and the United States, has been acting as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
The Israeli army said two suspects approached Israeli troops in the south of the Gaza Strip and posed an immediate threat, prompting the soldiers to fire at them.
The forum of relatives of the kidnapped persons had called for rallies and a day of fasting to mark the 500 days under the slogan “Get them out of hell.”
Mr Netanyahu had said Israel would resume “intense fighting’’ if Hamas failed to meet the deadline, though he did not specify the number of hostages to be released.
Mr Trump on Wednesday once again spoke of Gaza’s value in real estate terms, noting it’s fronting on the sea.
