Location at a glance: Israel’s army experiences a mobilization crisis before the Gaza offensive

With the beginning of the mobilization of tens of thousands of reservists, Israel’s army chief has announced for the planned intake of the city of Gaza to expand the fighting operations. “We have already started the soil surgery in Gaza,” said chief of staff Ejal Zamir in front of the reservists. “We are already entering areas that we have never entered before.” According to media reports, however, the commanders have difficulties finding enough reservists.

The Israeli security cabinet approved the intake of the city of Gaza in the north of the coastal strip sealed by Israel in August. A military spokesman now turned to the population of the city on the online platform X in Arabic and said that the evacuation was inevitable. Hundreds of thousands of people are said to be in the city of Gaza. In the south of the Gaza Strip, tents are prepared for them, the speaker wrote. However, according to aid organizations, the living conditions are also catastrophic there.

Reports on sunken detectors in reservists

After the convening of 60,000 reservists for the planned offensive against the city of Gaza in the north, the Israeli army has now started with the first wave of mobilization. In the meantime, however, fewer reservists have been inclined to report to work again, reported the “Times of Israel”. The reservists will be trained and prepared in the coming days. Some are to replace regular troops in the West Bank and northern. Ultimately, the army is planning to move four divisions to the city, the newspaper continued.

Hundreds of reservists want to refuse service

After almost two years of fighting on several fronts, many reservists are exhausted and, according to media reports, question the meaning of the war. “I know that you have paid a high price – at work, at your studies and at home,” said Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video message to regular soldiers, reservists and your families. “Now we are facing the crucial phase. I believe in you. I trust you and the entire people of Israel is behind you.”

However, surveys show that a majority of the population wants an agreement with the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas so that the war ends and the last hostages in Gaza come. Many relatives of the hostages accuse Netanyahu of unnecessarily extending the war for political reasons. His right -wing extremist coalition partners, whose political survival depends, categorically reject an agreement for a ceasefire.

According to media reports, a group of almost 400 reservists announced that it would not follow a convocation. “We refuse to participate in Netanyahus illegal war and see it as a patriotic duty to refuse this and to ask for our leaders to be accounted for,” one of them was cited. The planned intake of the city of Gaza not only endangers the life of the soldiers, but also that of the hostages in the violence of Hamas.

According to Israeli information, there are still 48 hostages in the Gaza Strip, 20 of whom are said to be alive.

Army chief is also said to have warned against offensive again

The army will intensify the attacks, “and that’s why we convened you,” said chief of staff Zamir in front of reservists. Hamas will not be able to hide anywhere. “We will not end the war before we defeated this enemy,” said Zamir. Despite these statements, however, according to the Israeli news portal “Ynet”, he had previously warned again before taking the city of Gaza and spoken out for a deal for release further hostages.

The commander now had difficulty mobilizing enough reservists for the planned intake of the city of Gaza, the “Wall Street Journal” wrote. Many reservists told the British newspaper “Guardian” that for personal and ideological reasons they were faced with “a difficult decision”. However, only a few wanted to reject the call, it said.

“We are ready to give our lives (…), but the obvious truth is that we now die for no reason,” the sheet quoted a paramedic who was recently in Gaza. Militically there is nothing left to win, he told the newspaper. On the other hand, it does not seem to be a good decision to end the war, while Hamas is still doing power in Gaza and holding hostages. These are difficult questions, said the paramedic of the newspaper.

“It’s a long war, but we have no alternative”

In the days after the massacre of Hamas and other extremist terrorists on October 7, in Israel, who killed more than 1,200 people and had more than 250 more than hostage in the Gaza strips, many reservists volunteered to fight. But the requirements of the war, for which hundreds of thousands were mobilized, are extreme. According to media reports, many marriages of reservists broke, and the economic costs for Israel are also high.

“It is a long war, but we have no alternative,” the “Guardian” quoted a reserve officer who has already had 550 days of use. “Is it tiring? Yes. Is it painful? Yes. But in the interests of Israel and democracies worldwide, we can’t just stop in the middle,” he said.

According to the health authority controlled by the Hamas, more than 63,600 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the war. The number of non -verifiable number does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. “We are a stubborn and just war that is second to none,” said Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu. “What started in Gaza has to end in Gaza.”