Israel’s army is moving forward – large offensive planned on the city of Gaza

Despite international criticism, the Israeli army claimed to be the “next phase of the war” in the Gaza Strip. The troops now held the outskirts of the city of Gaza in the north of the sealed coastal strip, said army spokesman Effie Defrin and spoke of “preparatory measures” to take the whole city. The security cabinet had approved the city and the evacuation of the population to the south at the beginning of the month.

According to Israeli officials, the detailed military plans for the full use of the city, in which there are currently around one million people are currently estimated, are to be finally approved by the security cabinet in the next few days, as the “Wall Street Journal” reported. Accordingly, the soil offensive in September should begin. According to Israeli media, the security cabinet should still come together today.

The statements of the army spokesman in front of journalists fell together with a notification of the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he called for accelerating the largest city in the north of the coastal strip. Before the plans for the assignment there, Netanyahu ordered “that the schedules – for conquering the last terrorist strongholds and the defeat of the Hamas – were shortened”.

The Islamist terrorist organization on Monday said that it had submitted a “positive answer” to the intermediaries for a new proposal for a ceasefire. The announcement of the Israeli army to start taking the city of Gaza with its almost one million inhabitants, and Netanyahu’s intent to approve this, is “disregarded” efforts by the intermediaries for a ceasefire, Hamas explained.

According to media reports, the latest proposal for a ceasefire is an almost identical version of a previously negotiated proposal of the US specialist Steve Witkoff. This provides for a 60-day break, while the ten living hostages are released in return for Palestinian prisoners. In total there are still 50 hostages in Gaza, of which at least 20 are still alive.

The relatives fear the worst. Military pressure does not save hostages, but kill them, said the father of a kidnapped man in a demonstration in the border area to the Gaza Strip. Macabit Mayer, the aunt of two twin brothers kidnapped to Gaza, accused Prime Minister Netanyahu of recruiting tens of other reservists for a “senseless mission” that “puts our loved ones and herself in danger.”

Defense Minister Israel Katz had previously approved the convocation of around 60,000 other reservists for taking the city of Gaza. In addition, the reserve service is to be extended by around 20,000 other soldiers. It was speculated that Israel’s announcement of an expansion of the war could also be a negotiation tactic to put Hamas under pressure, to return to the negotiating table and to show itself more flexibly.

The Israeli newspaper “Haaretz” stated that Netanyahu hesitated after the Hamas approval for the latest proposal with an official answer of Israel and has not yet announced a meeting of the security cabinet. An official reaction of Israel is expected until the end of this week. In a conversation with the US special-Sondered Witkoff, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty impressed to the fact that Israel reacted to the proposal of the Arabic mediators, reported the “Times of Israel”. The current opportunity for an agreement must be used.

It is feared that the planned offensive in the city of Gaza will worsen the already catastrophic situation of the civilian population. According to UN, the number of malnourished children in the Gaza Strip has tripled since March. Almost a third of the children are malnourished in the city of Gaza.

The residents of the city of Gaza will be warned and enabled their evacuation, said army spokesman Defrin. According to the media, the hundreds of thousands of civilians in tent quarters are to be further evacuated in the south. However, the population may not cooperate “because it has no place wherever it can go,” the “Wall Street Journal” quoted the retired Israeli General Israel Ziv. “It will be chaotic”.

However, if an agreement on a deal with Hamas is reached, the operation in the city would not continue, the US newspaper quoted an Israeli civil servant. On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people in Israel took protests and strikes on the streets to call their own government to close an agreement to end the war that has been going on for almost two years in the Gaza Strip and to free the hostages.

The right-wing extremist Finance Minister Bezhalel Smotrich is said to have stated unconfirmed media reports to relatives of the hostages that he will leave the government if Prime Minister Netanyahu should agree to a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. In order to be able to survive politically, Netanyahu is dependent on the support of his right -wing extremists such as Smotrich.

In the media reports, it was now said that the opposition politician Benny Gantz was considering returning to the government in order to enable a ceasefire. The ex-defense minister had left Netanyahu’s government in 2024 after disagreements.