Civilians are fleeing Gaza City, home to more than a million Palestinians, as Israel begins the first stages of its planned ground operation to capture the enclave.
The IDF (Israeli armed forces) has already established a presence on the outskirts of the city after days of heavy air and artillery strikes, an Israeli military spokesman said yesterday.
The escalation prompted the UN secretary-general to reiterate his call for a ceasefire. "It is vital that a ceasefire in Gaza is achieved immediately to avoid mass casualties and destruction," Guterres told reporters in Japan, where he is attending a conference on African development.
According to a statement yesterday by an Israeli army spokesman, troops are already operating in the Zeitoun and Jabalia areas, preparing the ground for the wider offensive approved on Tuesday by Defense Minister Israel Katz and expected to be discussed at the security cabinet later this week. Some 60,000 reservists were called up to join the IDF forces in early September. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday ordered a tighter timetable for capturing Hamas strongholds in the Gaza Strip and defeating the organization, his office said. Hamas, for its part, accused the Israeli leader of continuing a “brutal war against innocent civilians” and criticized him for “indifference” to the new ceasefire proposal by regional mediators, to which Israel has yet to formally respond.
Israeli authorities are expected to order hundreds of thousands of Gaza City residents to evacuate their homes and go to shelters in the southern part of the enclave, as preparations for the next phases of the invasion plan, codenamed "Gideon's Chariots II", progress.
The international backlash does not appear to have deterred Netanyahu's government. French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the operation "can only lead to catastrophe for both peoples and plunge the region into a cycle of perpetual war."
Along the same lines, the International Committee of the Red Cross stressed that new displacements and further escalation "risk worsening an already dire situation" for Gaza's population of 2.1 million.
The exhausted Israeli army could face personnel problems
Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the mobilization of 60,000 reservists yesterday morning as part of the implementation of the next stages of the plan to occupy Gaza. The decision was also made to extend the service of 20,000 reservists already serving in the army. After almost two years of war and in light of the new major operation, army officials are expressing their concern about the additional burden on the IDF. As the American network CNN points out, some reservists have been called up several times to fight in Gaza since the beginning of the conflict.
The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, had informed the security cabinet earlier this month that the army was facing weakening and exhaustion, but his concerns were ignored as Netanyahu and his government partners insisted on new war plans.
A new survey by Agam Labs at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that about 40% of soldiers have lost their motivation to serve, in contrast to 13% who say they are more willing than before.
The findings highlight the harsh reality within the Israeli military, which may face personnel problems in the context of new recruitment, as polls show that the vast majority of citizens support ending the war.
Death sentence for hostages
Absalom Zohar Shall has served more than 300 days in Gaza on four different missions. His last mission ended just a month ago, and he is not ready to return to the front lines, especially in an operation in Gaza City.
"I'm a little shocked that we're still talking about this war, which was supposed to be over a long time ago," Zohar Shall told CNN. He says the doubts that began to grip him a year ago have now intensified, and others in his unit are expressing the same concerns.
"I believe that this decision is equivalent to a death sentence for the hostages. The government has been saying all along that this war has two missions: To return the hostages and to defeat Hamas. Now it is as if they are telling us that there is only one goal, which, in my opinion, is not achievable, to destroy Hamas. And what is being done now will not destroy it either," he said.
It remains unknown how many reservists will respond to the new call to serve again in Gaza, especially after the army chief warned that the operation could endanger both soldiers and hostages. The marching orders are mandatory, but so far the army has shown little inclination to prosecute those who refuse or evade conscription.
Hamas statement
According to Hamas, the plan to occupy Gaza City, in connection with which the Israeli government announced yesterday, Wednesday, that it is calling up 60,000 reservists, demonstrates Israel's "blatant contempt" for the efforts of mediators, Qatar, Egypt, the United States, to conclude a ceasefire agreement, Hamas said in a statement.
"The announcement by the occupying terrorist army to launch an operation against Gaza City and its nearly one million residents and displaced persons demonstrates open contempt for the efforts made by the mediators to conclude a ceasefire agreement and release the hostages in the Gaza Strip," the Palestinian Islamist movement said.
"While Hamas announced that it agrees with the latest proposal presented by the mediators, Israel insists on continuing its barbaric war and does not respond to the proposal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shows that he is the real obstacle to any agreement, that he does not care about the lives of the hostages and has no serious intention to recover them," the Hamas statement read.
