Israel’s military announced on Wednesday that it has begun the first stages of an operation to seize Gaza City, deploying forces to the city’s outskirts.
At the same time, tens of thousands of reservists were called up as the government weighed a new ceasefire proposal aimed at halting nearly two years of conflict, News.Az reports, citign Reuters.
"We have begun the preliminary operations and the first stages of the attack on Gaza City, and already now IDF forces are holding the outskirts of Gaza City," Brigadier General Effie Defrin, Israel's military spokesperson, told reporters.
A military official briefing reporters earlier on Wednesday said reserve soldiers would not report for duty until September, an interval that gives mediators some time to bridge gaps between Hamas and Israel over truce terms.
But after Israeli troops clashed with Hamas fighters in the Palestinian enclave on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the Israeli leader sped up the timeline for taking control of Hamas strongholds and defeating the militant group that triggered the conflict with an attack on Israel in October 2023.
The Israeli statements signaled Israel was pressing ahead with its plan to seize Gaza's biggest urban centre despite international criticism of an operation likely to force the displacement of many more Palestinians.
Defrin said troops were already operating on the outskirts of Gaza City, and Hamas was now a "battered and bruised" guerrilla force. "We will deepen the attack on Hamas in Gaza City, a stronghold of governmental and military terror for the terrorist organization," the spokesman said.
Israel's military called up tens of thousands of reservists on Wednesday in preparation for the expected assault on Gaza City, as the Israeli government considered a new truce proposal.
Hamas, in a statement on Telegram, accused Netanyahu of obstructing the ceasefire deal in favour of continuing a "brutal war against innocent civilians in Gaza City."
"Netanyahu's disregard for the mediators' proposal ... proves that he is the real obstructionist of any agreement."
Israel’s security cabinet, chaired by Netanyahu, approved a plan this month to expand the campaign in Gaza with the aim of taking Gaza City, where Israeli forces waged fierce urban warfare with Hamas in the early stages of the war. Israel currently holds about 75% of the Gaza Strip.
