Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
LAST UPDATE | 2 Sep
ISRAEL HAS BEGUN mobilising tens of thousands of reservists and repeated evacuation warnings as part of its plan to widen its invasion of Gaza City, which has sparked opposition domestically and condemnation abroad.
In a statement, the Israeli military said it had been preparing in recent days “ahead of expanded combat operations and the large-scale mobilisation of reservists”.
Speaking at an event in Jerusalem, Defence Minister Israel Katz said: “Tens of thousands of reservists have left their homes, families and jobs to once again answer the national call – the return of all hostages and the neutralisation of Hamas.”
Approving the military’s plans for the conquest of Gaza City in late August, Katz said he had authorised the call-up of about 60,000 reservists.
Israeli media reported that some 40,000 reservists were being called up in the first mobilisation wave.
Despite mounting pressure at home and abroad to end its campaign in the Palestinian territory, Israel is gearing up to seize Gaza’s largest city – intensifying bombardments and operating in the outskirts in recent days.
The UN estimates that nearly a million people live in Gaza City and its surroundings, where a man-made famine has been declared.
The beginning of Israeli September call-up, announced last month, comes as ground and air forces press forward and pursue more targets in northern and central Gaza, striking parts of Zeitoun and Shijaiyah – two western Gaza City neighbourhoods that Israeli forces have repeatedly invaded since October 2023.
Zeitoun, once Gaza City’s largest neighbourhood with markets, schools and clinics, has been transformed over the past month, with streets being emptied and buildings reduced to rubble as it becomes what Israel’s military last week called a “ dangerous combat zone”.
Gaza City is one of the last refuges in northern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are sheltering, facing the twin threats of Israeli attacks and famine.
Israel killed 13 people in overnight strikes on an apartment and a residential building in Gaza city last night.
Mahmud Bassal, a spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defence agency, said today that one of the airstrikes killed 10 people after Israel hit the top floor of a residential building in southwestern Gaza City.
He said a second strike by Israeli helicopters struck an apartment in the west of the city, killing three people and wounding several others.
At least 63,557 Palestinians have now been killed by Israel sicne October 2023.
Additional reporting from PA
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say