Preparations for a Move on Gaza City Have Started, Israel’s Military Says

The Israeli army is going forward on plans to resume the city of Gaza, officials announced on Wednesday, even if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weighs a hassum cease-fire proposal which would anger the harsh harshs in his government but, potentially, ensure the safe release of certain hostages.

The troops had reached the periphery of the city and tents were transferred in southern Gaza for people who would be moved from their homes once the operation at the start, an Israeli military official who asked for anonymity in accordance with the military protocol said during a briefing for journalists.

On Wednesday, the Minister of Defense Israel Katz said separately that he had approved the mobilization of more reservists and extending others for the others for the fighting in Gaza. “I ask you to use all the tools and any power to strike the enemy until it is moderate and to protect the soldiers of the FDI,” Katz told Israeli troops, referring to the Israeli defense forces, according to a statement from his ministry.

The new assault aims to prevent Hamas from grouping and planning future attacks, the Israeli military official said during the briefing. This comes after almost two years of Israel’s war against Hamas, which largely leveled the Gaza Strip and brought parts to the edge of the famine.

The official said that 50,000 additional reservists – bringing the total to 120,000 – would be invited to present themselves to the service in September to fill other soldiers who would go to Gaza City. Reservists who are already in service could see their prolonged missions, said the manager.

The Israeli army said in a subsequent statement that 60,000 new reservists would be called to homework and that 20,000 reservists would have extended their orders.

The Israeli Briefing official described the military operation as “progressive, specifies and targeted”, saying that it would extend into the areas of the city of Gaza where the Israeli soldiers were not previously during the war. The city and its surrounding districts remain a main bastion for Hamas fighters and the government of activists, said the official.

But a 60-day ceasefire plan, highlighted earlier this week and approved by Hamas, could suspend the operation.

Mr. Netanyahu undergoes increasing pressure from his hard political allies to reject the proposal, which was described as “partial transaction” because it would not immediately release all Israeli hostages or ending the war.

But his terms are similar to those that Israel previously accepted, according to officials informed of its content, who spoke under the guise of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy.

A previous proposal, according to which President Trump said in July that Israel had approved, called for the release of 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 others during the 60 -day period in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. According to Israeli authorities, up to 20 hostages. The bodies of 30 others, they say, are also detained in Gaza.

The talks to conclude this agreement finally collapsed, and Mr. Netanyahu did not publicly share his position on the new cease-fire proposal, which was announced this week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

On Wednesday, a hard minister of Mr. Netanyahu’s government, Orit Strock, warned the Prime Minister in an interview on Israeli radio on the acceptance of an agreement that does not beat Hamas and puts “the value of the return of hostages above national interest”.

“This will push the country into a horrible abyss,” said Strock, a member of the far -right religious party, in Army Radio. “It is therefore very possible that we will say that we will not be ready to lend our hand to the government.”

Many Israelis fear that Hamas will kill the remaining Israeli hostages that stand in Gaza if the military operation takes place. The hostage families demanded a meeting on Wednesday with Mr. Katz, the Minister of Defense, and the military chief of staff, Lieutenant-General Eyal Zamir,.

“Approving the plans to occupy Gaza, although there is an agreement on the table for Netanyahu’s approval, is the essence of torpting, and a stab at the heart of families and the public in Israel,” a group representing relatives of the hostages, in a statement.

“Everyone knows that the conditions are ripe for an agreement, and it is in your hands,” he said, calling on Mr. Netanyahu.

The Israeli military official said that the new operation would also expand humanitarian aid in southern Gaza where displaced people are invited to move to avoid being taken in cross -fires. This will include the opening of new aid distribution sites and ensure that there is no nearby combat, and the opening of new routes so that trucks provide more secure supplies.

The Civil Defense of Gaza, the main emergency service of the territory, said that at least five people had been killed and three injured in night attacks on Wednesday in a travel camp south of Gaza City, near Deir al-Balah. In addition, an Israeli press release said that he had launched air strikes against activists, killing 10, after being attacked in southern Gaza, near the city of Khan Younis.

More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since the October 7 attack led by Hamas against Israel which sparked the war in Gaza, according to the Gazan Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Aaron Boxerman And Gabby Sobelman Contributed reports.