Palestinians flee Gaza City districts as Israel says first stages of assault have begun

Highlights:

• Israel plans gradual, targeted operation in Gaza City
• Israeli troops clash with Hamas near Khan Younis
• Smotrich approves West Bank settlement project assailed abroad

Israel's military announced the first steps of an operation to take over Gaza City on Wednesday and called up tens of thousands of reservists while the government considered a new ceasefire proposal to pause nearly two years of war.

"We have begun the preliminary operations and the first stages of the attack on Gaza City, and already now IDF forces are holding the outskirts of Gaza City," Brigadier General Effie Defrin, Israel's military spokesperson, told reporters.

A military official briefing reporters earlier on Wednesday said reserve soldiers would not report for duty until September, an interval that gives mediators some time to bridge gaps between Hamas and Israel over truce terms.

But after Israeli troops clashed with Hamas fighters in the Palestinian enclave on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the Israeli leader sped up the timeline for taking control of Hamas strongholds and defeating the fighter group that triggered the conflict with an attack on Israel in October 2023.

The Israeli statements signaled Israel was pressing ahead with its plan to seize Gaza's biggest urban centre despite international criticism of an operation likely to force the displacement of many more Palestinians.

Defrin said troops were already operating on the outskirts of Gaza City, and Hamas was now a "battered and bruised" guerrilla force. "We will deepen the attack on Hamas in Gaza City, a stronghold of governmental and military terror for the terrorist organization," the spokesman said.

Israel's military called up tens of thousands of reservists on Wednesday in preparation for the expected assault on Gaza City, as the Israeli government considered a new truce proposal.

Hamas, in a statement on Telegram, accused Netanyahu of obstructing the ceasefire deal in favour of continuing a "brutal war against innocent civilians in Gaza City."

"Netanyahu's disregard for the mediators' proposal ... proves that he is the real obstructionist of any agreement."

Israel's security cabinet, chaired by Netanyahu, approved a plan this month to expand the campaign in Gaza with the aim of taking Gaza City, where Israeli forces waged fierce urban warfare with Hamas in the early stages of the war. Israel currently holds about 75% of the Gaza Strip.

Many of Israel's closest allies have urged the government to reconsider, but Netanyahu is under pressure from some far-right members of his coalition to reject a temporary ceasefire, continue the war and pursue the annexation of the territory.

One far-right member, 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 Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when gunmen led by Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities near the border, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 251 hostages including children into Gaza, according to Israeli figures.

Over 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's air and ground war in Gaza since then, according to Gaza health officials, who do not say how many were fighters but have said most of those killed have been women and children.

Hamas has accepted a proposal put forward by 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, HAMAS FIGHTERS CLASH

Israeli troops clashed on Wednesday with more than 15 Hamas fighters 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 southeast 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 several 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.

Israeli officials have said evacuation orders would be issued to Gaza City residents before any force moves in.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which oversees Gaza's only Catholic Church, located in Gaza City, said it received reports that neighbourhoods near the small parish had started to receive evacuation notices.

Hamas, an Islamist movement that has ruled Gaza for almost two decades, has been severely weakened by the war.

Hamas has said it would release all remaining hostages in exchange for an end to war. Israel says it will not end the war before Hamas disarms.

Opinion polls show strong Israeli public support for ending the war if it ensures the release of the hostages, and a rally in Tel Aviv urging the government to pursue such a deal drew a huge crowd on Saturday.

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll of Americans showed a 58% majority believe that every country in the United Nations should recognise Palestine as a nation.