Israel said Wednesday it would call up 60,000 reservists and extend the service of others for a planned offensive in Gaza City and other heavily populated areas, ratcheting up pressure on Hamas as ceasefire talks show signs of progress.
The expansion of Israeli operations is likely to bring even more death and destruction to Gaza, around 75% of which is already largely destroyed and controlled by Israel. A wider offensive would also force more people to flee and further disrupt the delivery of humanitarian
aid as experts say the territory is at imminent risk of famine.
Israel's plans have also sparked internal controversy, with families of the remaining hostages fearing another military escalation could doom their loved ones, while former senior security officials say there is little to be gained militarily.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis joined mass protests over the weekend.
The decision to once again summon reservists away from their families and businesses, with many having served earlier terms over 22 months of grinding war, could further escalate those tensions.
An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said Wednesday that troops would gradually move into Gaza City, including parts where they have not previously operated and where the official said Hamas still has military and governing capabilities.
The official, who declined to offer a precise timetable for the operation, said the process of mobilizing reserves would unfold over several weeks.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the operations will eventually expand to built-up refugee camps in central Gaza dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation, as well as Muwasi, a sprawling displacement camp along the coast.
Those areas, along with the central city of Deir al-Balah, are the only parts of Gaza that have not been almost completely destroyed in previous Israeli operations. They are also areas where Hamas may be holding hostages in tunnels or other secret locations.
Netanyahu has said Israel will allow civilians to flee to “designated safe zones” where “they will be given ample food, water and medical care, as we have done before.” He did not say where they would go.
Israel designated Muwasi as a humanitarian zone earlier in the war. The barren stretch of sandy coastline was soon filled with tents housing hundreds of thousands of people with little in the way of food, running water, toilets or trash collection. Israel has regularly carried out airstrikes against what it said were militants hiding out there, often killing women and children.
Last month, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz reportedly floated the idea of transferring Gaza's population to a so-called “humanitarian city” that the military would build on the ruins of the southernmost city of Rafah — now a largely uninhabited Israeli military zone — on the border with Egypt.
Netanyahu has vowed to eventually relocate much of Gaza's population to other countries through what he refers to as voluntary emigration. The Palestinians and much of the international community see it as forcible expulsion because Israel's offensive has made much of Gaza uninhabitable.
They fear that concentrating people in the south would be a step toward implementing such plans.
Israel could delay or cancel the planned offensive if there is a breakthrough in long-running ceasefire talks that stalled last month but now seem to have been revived.
Hamas said this week it has accepted a new proposal from Arab mediators that is almost identical to a previous one advanced by the United States and accepted by Israel. Neither Israel nor the United States have yet responded to the offer.
Netanyahu has said he will end the war if Hamas gives up power, lays down its arms and releases the remaining 50 hostages — around 20 of whom are believed by Israel to be alive.
Israel would still maintain open-ended security control over Gaza while delegating civilian administration to friendly Arab forces, Netanyahu has said, without identifying them. None are known to have volunteered, aside from an Israeli-backed armed group known for looting aid.
Hamas has said, in line with international demands, that it would release the remaining hostages in return for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The militant group says it is willing to hand over power to other Palestinians but will not give up its weapons as long as Israel occupies lands the Palestinians want for a future state. Israel believes any arrangement that leaves Hamas intact and armed would allow it to eventually mount another Oct. 7-style attack.
The hostages are Hamas' only remaining bargaining chip, and it is unlikely to give them up if it believes that Israel will then resume the war and attempt to eradicate the group.
Israel ended a previous ceasefire in March that had facilitated the release of 25 hostages and the remains of eight others. Since then, it has imposed a 2 1/2 month blockade that pushed the territory toward famine, launched daily airstrikes across Gaza, expanded its buffer zone and ordered mass evacuations.
Hamas has only released one hostage during that time, as a gesture to the United States.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 others in the 2023 attack. More than half of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel's offensive has killed around 61,500 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and run by medical professionals, does not say how many of those killed were civilians or combatants, but it says women and children make up around half of the fatalities. The agency's numbers are considered a reliable estimate by the U.N. and independent experts. Israel disputes them but has not offered its own figures.
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Associated Press Writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
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