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| Israel calls up 60,000 reservists ahead of Gaza City offensive | Israel calls up 60,000 reservists ahead of Gaza City offensive |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| An Israeli military official said five divisions would be involved in the planned offensive | An Israeli military official said five divisions would be involved in the planned offensive |
| The Israeli military says it is calling up about 60,000 reservists ahead of a planned ground offensive to capture and occupy all of Gaza City. | The Israeli military says it is calling up about 60,000 reservists ahead of a planned ground offensive to capture and occupy all of Gaza City. |
| A military official said the reservists would report for duty in September and that most of the troops mobilised for the offensive would be active-duty personnel. | A military official said the reservists would report for duty in September and that most of the troops mobilised for the offensive would be active-duty personnel. |
| They added that troops were already operating in the Zeitoun and Jabalia areas as part of the preparations for the plan, which Defence Minister Israel Katz approved on Tuesday and will be put to the security cabinet later this week. | They added that troops were already operating in the Zeitoun and Jabalia areas as part of the preparations for the plan, which Defence Minister Israel Katz approved on Tuesday and will be put to the security cabinet later this week. |
| Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City are expected to be ordered to evacuate and head to shelters in southern Gaza. | Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City are expected to be ordered to evacuate and head to shelters in southern Gaza. |
| Many of Israel's allies have condemned the plan, with French President Emmanuel Macron warning on Wednesday that it "can only lead to disaster for both peoples and risks plunging the entire region into a cycle of permanent war". | |
| The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) meanwhile said further displacement and an intensification of hostilities "risk worsening an already catastrophic situation" for Gaza's 2.1 million population. | |
| Israel's government announced its intention to conquer the entire Gaza Strip after indirect talks with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal broke down last month. | Israel's government announced its intention to conquer the entire Gaza Strip after indirect talks with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal broke down last month. |
| Mediators Qatar and Egypt are trying to secure an agreement before the offensive begins and have presented a new proposal for a 60-day truce and the release of around half of the 50 hostages held in Gaza, which Hamas said it had accepted on Monday. | |
| Israel has not yet submitted a formal response, but Israeli officials insisted on Tuesday that they would no longer accept a partial deal and demanded a comprehensive one that would see all the hostages released. Only 20 of them are believed to be still alive. | |
| The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that orders calling up 60,000 reservists were issued on Wednesday as part of the preparations for "the next phase of Operation Gideon's Chariots" - the ground offensive that it launched in May and has seen it take control of at least 75% of Gaza. | |
| In addition, 20,000 reservists who had already been called up would receive a notice extending their current orders, it added. | In addition, 20,000 reservists who had already been called up would receive a notice extending their current orders, it added. |
| The military official said senior commanders had approved the plan for what they described as a "gradual, precise and targeted operation in and around Gaza City", with troops entering some areas where they had not gone previously. | |
| Five divisions were expected to take part in the offensive, the official added. | |
| The Haaretz newspaper quoted Defence Minister Katz as saying on Tuesday: "Once the operation is completed, Gaza will change its face and will no longer look as it did in the past." | |
| He also reportedly approved a plan to "accommodate" Gaza City residents in the south of the territory, including the coastal al-Mawasi area, where the military official said field hospitals would be established. | |
| Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the military's objectives are to secure the release of all the hostages held by Hamas and "complete the defeat" of the Palestinian armed group. | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the military's objectives are to secure the release of all the hostages held by Hamas and "complete the defeat" of the Palestinian armed group. |
| The IDF also announced on Wednesday that the Givati Brigade had resumed operations in the northern town of Jabalia and on the outskirts of Gaza City, where it said they were "dismantling military infrastructures above and below ground, eliminating terrorists, and consolidating operational control". | The IDF also announced on Wednesday that the Givati Brigade had resumed operations in the northern town of Jabalia and on the outskirts of Gaza City, where it said they were "dismantling military infrastructures above and below ground, eliminating terrorists, and consolidating operational control". |
| It said civilians were being told to move south for their safety "to mitigate the risk of harm". | It said civilians were being told to move south for their safety "to mitigate the risk of harm". |
| A spokesman for Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence agency, Mahmoud Bassal, told AFP news agency on Tuesday that the situation was "very dangerous and unbearable" in the city's Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods, where he said "shelling continues intermittently". | |
| The agency reported that Israeli strikes and fire had killed 21 people across the territory on Wednesday. They included three children and their parents whose home in the Badr area of Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, was bombed, it said. | |
| The IDF meanwhile said 15 Palestinian fighters had attempted to infiltrate one of its positions in the southern city of Khan Younis on Wednesday. The IDF said one Israeli soldier was severely injured and 10 of the attackers were killed during the incident. Hamas's military wing said it had attacked the position and that at least one fighter carried out a suicide bombing. | |
| The UN human rights office said it had recorded 54 Israeli attacks on residential buildings in Gaza City since 8 August | |
| The UN and non-governmental organisations operating in Gaza have warned of the humanitarian impact of a new Israeli offensive. | |
| "The Israeli plan to intensify military operations in Gaza City will have a horrific humanitarian impact on people already exhausted, malnourished, bereaved, displaced, and deprived of basics needed for survival," they said in a joint statement on Monday. | "The Israeli plan to intensify military operations in Gaza City will have a horrific humanitarian impact on people already exhausted, malnourished, bereaved, displaced, and deprived of basics needed for survival," they said in a joint statement on Monday. |
| "Forcing hundreds of thousands to move south is a recipe for further disaster and could amount to forcible transfer," they added. Forcible transfer of a civilian population is a serious violation of international humanitarian law. | |
| They also said the areas of the south where displaced residents were expected to move were "overcrowded and ill-equipped to sustain human survival at scale". | They also said the areas of the south where displaced residents were expected to move were "overcrowded and ill-equipped to sustain human survival at scale". |
| The ICRC said on Wednesday that a further intensification of military operations threatened "an irreversible humanitarian crisis" and that the lives of the hostages might also be put at risk. Some of them are believed to be held in Gaza City. | |
| The UN human rights office said hundreds of families had already been forced to flee eastern and southern Gaza City over the past few days, while others reportedly remained trapped, completely cut off from food, water and medical supplies. | |
| It also noted that Israel was telling displaced Palestinians to move to al-Mawasi even though it continued to carry out deadly strikes there. | |
| The World Food Programme meanwhile warned that malnutrition in Gaza had crossed emergency levels and was "rising fast", with more children and mothers showing severe symptoms. The UN agency said it was scaling up treatment but that "needs outpace the response". | |
| Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry also reported that another three people had died as a result of malnutrition over the previous 24 hours, raising the total number of such deaths since the start of the war to 269, including 112 children. | |
| The UN has said it needs unimpeded humanitarian access across all of Gaza, with aid entering at scale through all possible crossings. It has said incoming supplies remain far from sufficient because of Israeli restrictions. | |
| Israeli military body Cogat, which controls the entry of aid into Gaza, said in response to the WFP's statement that hundreds of lorry loads of supplies were being delivered daily and that food prices were "plummeting". It has also previously accused the health ministry of misrepresenting deaths from pre-existing medical conditions as malnutrition. | |
| The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. | The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. |
| At least 62,122 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry. The ministry's figures are quoted by the UN and others as the most reliable source of statistics available on casualties. | |