DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Widespread opposition from within Israel and international condemnation have not deterred Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from his plan to expand the Israeli military’s operation in Gaza City.
The Israeli military began calling medical officials and international organizations in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday to encourage them to evacuate the area ahead of the expanded operation. It comes the day after the military announced the call-up of 60,000 reservists
and the extension of 20,000 reservists currently serving to support the expanded operation.
Netanyahu is expected to give his final approval for the operation during a security cabinet meeting Thursday night, according to an official who was not authorized to speak to the media.
The approval comes as at least 36 Palestinians were killed in strikes in central and southern Gaza Strip on Thursday, according to local hospitals, and people protested in Israel and Gaza.
Although Israel has targeted and killed much of Hamas’ senior leadership, parts of Hamas are actively regrouping and carrying out attacks, including launching rockets towards Israel, the official said.
Israeli troops are already operating in the city’s Zeitoun neighborhood and in Jabaliya, a refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, to prepare the groundwork for the expanded operation, which could begin within days.
The planned offensive, announced earlier this month, comes during heightened international condemnation of Israel’s restrictions on food and medicine reaching Gaza and fears that many Palestinians will be forced to flee.
United Nations’ chief Antonio Guterres repeated his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Thursday as Israel prepared to launch a new assault in Gaza City and other populated areas.
“I must reiterate that it is vital to reach immediately a ceasefire in Gaza, and the unconditional release of all hostages to avoid the massive death and destruction that a military operation against Gaza City would inevitably cause,” Guterres told a news conference on the sidelines of the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development hosted by Japan.
People protested against the expansion of the war in Israel and Gaza on Thursday. In Gaza City, hundreds of people gathered, waving flags and posters among destroyed buildings, rubble and tents for the displaced in a rare show of opposition against the war and forced migration.
Women and children joined the protest, holding placards reading “Save Gaza” and “Stop the war, stop the savage attack, save us,” as Palestinian music played in the background.
“We want the war on Gaza to stop. We don’t want to migrate. Twenty-two months … it’s enough. Enough death. Enough destruction,” said Bisan Ghazal, a woman displaced from the eastern part of Gaza City.
“We have lost more than 10% of our residents, 85% of our buildings and infrastructure and much of our cultural and historic heritage,” said Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO Network. “All of Gaza is threatened with destruction.”
In Israel, families of some of the 50 hostages still being held in Gaza gathered in Tel Aviv to condemn the expanded operation. Israel believes around 20 hostages are still alive.
“Forty-two hostages were kidnapped alive and murdered in captivity due to military pressure and delay in signing a deal," said Dalia Cusnir, whose brother-in-law, Eitan Horn, is still being held captive. Eitan's brother, Iair Horn, was released during the last ceasefire.
“Enough to sacrifice the hostages. Enough to sacrifice the soldiers, both regular and reservists. Enough to sacrifice the evacuees. Enough to sacrifice the younger generation in the country," said Bar Goddard, the daughter of Meni Goddard, whose body is being held by Hamas.
Additional protests are planned for Thursday night in Tel Aviv.
At least 36 people were killed on Thursday in Gaza and the death toll from deadly strikes Wednesday in northern Gaza rose by another 39 people, Shifa hospital reported. Airstrikes killed 19 people in central Gaza, including five people attempting to get aid and eight people sheltering at schools for displaced people, according to Al Awda Hospital.
Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza said at least nine people were killed attempting to access aid and eight people were killed in an airstrike near Khan Younis.
The Israeli military did not have immediate comment on the strikes but has frequently accused Hamas of hiding military infrastructure in civilian areas.
In the central city of Deir-al Balah, airstrikes destroyed at least 100 tents of people displaced by the fighting, according to Al Aqsa hospital, which is located nearby.
Witnesses said smoke rose from the targeted area and fires spread quickly through the makeshift shelters. Civil defense teams rushed to the site, working to extinguish the flames. Families, many of them with children, were left sifting through the ashes of what little they had managed to bring with them during earlier evacuations.
Mohammad Kahlout, displaced from northern Gaza, voiced anger and despair at the repeated attacks on civilians.
“We came to the safe zone, which they call safe. (We were given) only five minutes to gather our belongings, and then they bombed the camp,” he said. “We are civilians, not terrorists. What is our fault, and what is the fault of our children, to be displaced again? This is a camp for civilians, refugees. There is no resistance or anyone.”
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said Thursday the death toll from the Israel-Hamas war has reached 62,192.
Additionally, two more people have died from starvation and malnutrition, bringing the total number of such deaths to 271, including 112 children, the Health Ministry said.
The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The ministry does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants, but it said women and children make up around half of them. The U.N. and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties. Israel disputes its toll but has not provided its own.
Hamas-led militants started the war when they attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Hamas says it will only free the rest in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.
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Abou Aljoud reported from Beirut and Lidman reported from Jerusalem. Mari Yamaguchi contributed from Tokyo.
