Israel says it has taken first steps of military operation in Gaza City

TEL AVIV – Israel’s military announced the first steps of an operation to take over Gaza City on Aug 20 and called up tens of thousands of reservists while the government considered a new ceasefire proposal to pause nearly two years of war.

“We have begun the preliminary operations and the first stages of the attack on Gaza City, and already now IDF (Israel Defence Forces) are holding the outskirts of Gaza City,” Brigadier-General Effie Defrin, Israel’s military spokesman, told reporters.

A military official briefing reporters earlier on Aug 20 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 Aug 20, 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 signalled the country 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.

Brig-Gen Defrin said troops were already operating on the outskirts of Gaza City, and Hamas was now a “battered and bruised” guerilla force.

“We will deepen the attack on Hamas in Gaza City, a stronghold of governmental and military terror for the terrorist organisation,” the spokesman said.

Israel’s military called up tens of thousands of reservists on Aug 20 in preparation for the expected assault on Gaza City, as the Israeli government considered a new truce proposal.

Hamas, in a statement on the Telegram messaging platform, accused Mr 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 Mr Netanyahu, approved a plan in August 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 per cent of the Gaza Strip.

Many of Israel’s closest allies have urged the government to reconsider, but Mr Netanyahu is under pressure from some far-right members of his coalition to reject a temporary ceasefire, continue the war and pursue the annexation of the territory.

One far-right member, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich,

announced final approval

on Aug 20 of a widely condemned Israeli plan for a settlement project in the occupied West Bank that he said would erase any prospect of a Palestinian state.

The war in Gaza began on Oct 7, 2023, when gunmen led by Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities near the border, killing about 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 251 hostages, including children, into Gaza, according to Israeli figures.

More than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed

in Israel’s air and ground war in Gaza since then, according to Gaza health officials, who do not say how many were militants but have said most of those killed have been women and children.

Hamas has

accepted a proposal

put forward by Arab mediators for a 60-day ceasefire that would involve releasing some of the remaining hostages and freeing Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

The Israeli government, which has said all the 50 remaining hostages must be released at once, is studying the proposal.

The Israeli authorities believe that 20 hostages are still alive.

Many Gazans and foreign leaders fear a storming of Gaza City would cause significant casualties.

Israel says it will help civilians leave battle zones before any assault begins.

Israeli troops and Hamas fighters clash

Israeli troops clashed on Aug 20 with more than 15 Hamas militants who emerged from tunnel shafts and attacked with gunfire and anti-tank missiles near Khan Younis, south of Gaza City, severely wounding one soldier and lightly wounding two others, an Israeli military official said.

In a statement, Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades confirmed carrying out a raid on Israeli troops south-east of Khan Younis and engaging Israeli troops at point-blank range.

It said that during an attack that lasted several hours, one fighter blew himself up among the soldiers, causing casualties.

Israel’s military campaign has caused widespread devastation across the Gaza Strip, which before the war was home to about 2.3 million Palestinians.

Many buildings, including homes, schools and mosques, have been destroyed, while the military has accused Hamas of operating from within civilian infrastructure, which it denies.

Israeli officials have said evacuation orders would be issued to Gaza City residents before any force moves in.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem – which oversees Gaza’s only Catholic Church, located in Gaza City – said it received reports that neighbourhoods near the small parish had started to get evacuation notices.

Hamas, an Islamist movement that has ruled Gaza for almost two decades, has been severely weakened by the war.

Hamas has said it would release all remaining hostages in exchange for an end to the war. Israel says it will not end the war before Hamas disarms.

Opinion polls show strong Israeli public support for ending the war if it ensures the release of the hostages, and a rally in Tel Aviv urging the government to pursue such a deal drew a huge crowd on Aug 16.

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll of Americans showed a 58 per cent majority believes that every country in the UN should recognise Palestine as a nation. REUTERS