‘We’re not waiting’: Israel accelerates Gaza takeover
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered Israel’s army to begin the invasion of Gaza, as his mission to conquer the war-torn strip is accelerated.
Source: Israel Defence Forces
Israel launched the first stage of its controversial invasion operation on Thursday (AEST).
The surprise move came as negotiators are scrambling to bring Israel and Hamas to a ceasefire to end 22 months of fighting.
“We have begun the preliminary operations and the first stages of the attack on Gaza City,” Israel Defence Forces spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said.
“Already now IDF forces are holding the outskirts of Gaza City.”
Defrin said the army was “not waiting”.
“We will deepen the attack on Hamas in Gaza City, a stronghold of governmental and military terror for the terrorist organisation.”
Israel’s military called up 60,000 reservists on Wednesday (local time) and was going to extend the contracts of another 20,000 serving reservists.
Earlier, the military had said reserve soldiers would not report for duty until September, giving mediators time to negotiate on hostages.
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But Netanyahu accelerated the timeline after Israeli troops clashed with Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
The decision came despite international pressure to find a peaceful solution to the war and growing condemnation of Palestinian deaths and starvation.
Israel has lashed out at other nations, including Australia, over moves to recognise a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu labelled Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a “weak politician” in a social media post and claimed he had abandoned the nation’s Jewish community.
Albanese shrugged off the comments while his lieutenants fired back, with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke declaring “strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry”.
Human rights groups have warned that a humanitarian crisis could worsen in Gaza, where most residents have been displaced, vast neighbourhoods lie in ruins, and communities face the threat of famine.
The planned offensive, announced earlier in August, has heightened international condemnation of Israel and fuelled fears of another mass displacement among Palestinians.
Hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering in the city and it holds some of the last remnants of critical infrastructure.
Israel’s security cabinet, chaired by Netanyahu, approved a plan this month to expand the campaign in the enclave with the aim of taking Gaza City, where Israeli forces waged fierce urban warfare with Hamas in the early stages of the war.
Israel holds about 75 per cent of the Gaza Strip.
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Many of Israel’s closest allies have urged the government to reconsider. But Netanyahu is under pressure from some ultranationalist members of his coalition to reject a temporary ceasefire, continue the war and pursue the annexation of the territory.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced final approval on Wednesday of a widely condemned Israeli plan for a settlement project in the occupied West Bank that he said would erase any prospect of a Palestinian state.
The war in the Gaza Strip began on October 7, 2023, when gunmen led by Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities near the border, killing about 1200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 251 hostages including children into the enclave, according to Israeli figures.
More than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s air and ground war in the Gaza Strip since then, according to Gazan health officials. They do not say how many were militants but have said most of those killed have been women and children.
Hamas has accepted a proposal from Arab mediators for a 60-day ceasefire that would involve releasing some of the remaining hostages and freeing Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
The Israeli government, which has said all the 50 remaining hostages must be released at once, is studying the proposal.
Israeli authorities believe that 20 hostages are still alive.
Many Gazans and foreign leaders fear a storming of Gaza City would cause significant casualties.
Israel says it will help civilians leave battle zones before any assault begins.
Israeli troops clashed on Wednesday with more than 15 Hamas militants who emerged from tunnel shafts and attacked with gunfire and anti-tank missiles near Khan Younis, south of Gaza City, severely wounding one soldier and lightly wounding two others, an Israeli military official said.
In a statement, Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades confirmed carrying out a raid on Israeli troops south-east of Khan Younis and engaging Israeli troops at point-blank range.
It said one fighter blew himself up among the soldiers, causing casualties, during an attack that lasted hours.
Israel’s military campaign has caused widespread devastation across the Gaza Strip, which before the war was home to about 2.3 million Palestinians.
Many buildings including homes, schools and mosques have been destroyed while the military has accused Hamas of operating from within civilian infrastructure, which Hamas denies.
-with AAP
