Israel approved a plan for the takeover of Gaza City which includes the call of 60,000 reservists for its extended military operation in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
The American ally seemed to advance Wednesday with a new phase of his war despite the international opposition-and faced with a renewed push for a cease-fire with Hamas.
Defense Minister Israel Katz authorized the plans for the new major operation, a spokesman for the ministry confirmed at NBC News. He will also see 20,000 additional reservists extending their service, said the Israeli army.
The assault should force thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza south of the band, which suffers from a hunger crisis in the intensification of the military offensive of Israel and aid restrictions.
Dozens of people have been killed by famine in recent weeks, including dozens of children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the enclave.
In addition to the world assembly, radical demonstrations have more and more dominated its own streets, the growing number of Israelis demanding the end of its offensive in the enclave.
Hundreds of thousands organized furious demonstrations last weekend alongside a general strike, partly fueled by the fear that the planned assault of Gaza City will put the life of the remaining hostages in danger.
Katz, who replaced Yoav Gallant as Minister of Defense last year, organized a discussion on Tuesday to approve “strike plans in Gaza” with the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, Lieutenant-General Eyal Zamir and other senior defense officials, said the Ministry of Defense.
The announcement of the enlarged military operation comes after Israel seemed to cancel the announcements that Hamas had accepted the last proposal of the Arab mediators for a cease-fire contract in Gaza which would release the hostages that would remain held in the enclave.
Egyptian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Badr Abdeatty, told NBC News on Tuesday that the agreement was based on a proposal from President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, for a 60-day ceasefire, during which some of the 50 remaining hostages, both alive, would be released with plans to negotiate sustainable drying.
“The ball is now at the court of Israel,” he said, adding: “We would like a positive response from them as soon as possible in order to face the disastrous situation in Gaza, in particular famine and murder of civilians.”
Asked about development, a spokesperson for the office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred NBC news to a statement that the Israeli chief suggested on Monday that he was determined to move forward with the plan to assume the full control of Gaza City and to note that Hamas seemed to be “under immense pressure”.
When they were asked if they could confirm information that Israel would provide an answer to international mediators of the proposal by Friday, the spokesman said “no” and did not provide additional clarification.
New satellite images suggest that a number of people have already started to flee the Gaza City region in recent days before Israel’s advance, with the country’s plan to push civilians living in the region in the south of the enclave condemned by the rights defense groups.
The imagery captured on August 16 shows that the sites just south of Gaza City are apparently sterile, having been filled with what seems to be tent camps a few days earlier, on August 9.
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following the attacks led by Hamas on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 hostages, marking a major escalation in a conflict of decades.
Since then, more than 62,000 people have been killed in Gaza, including thousands of children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Enclave, a large part of the destroyed territory.
Paul Goldman,, Matthew Mulligan And Caroline Radnofsky contributed.
