Israel will call up 60,000 reservists and lengthen the service of an additional 20,000 as operations begin in and around Gaza City. Defence Minister Israel Katz approved plans to operate in some of Gaza's most densely populated areas, with initial activity reported in Zeitoun and Jabalia. Human rights groups warn that the humanitarian crisis could worsen amid widespread displacement, ruined neighbourhoods, and rising starvation deaths with the threat of widescale famine. Reporting from central Gaza describes flattened homes, intensified attacks by artillery, drones and warplanes, and fears of mass displacement toward southern concentration zones.
Israel will call up 60,000 reservists in the coming weeks as it pushes forward with a plan to seize Gaza City, the military has said, even as mediators pursue efforts to secure a ceasefire in the 22-month war. The military said on Wednesday that Defence Minister Israel Katz approved plans to begin operations in some of Gaza's most densely populated areas, and that it would call up 60,000 reservists and lengthen the service of an additional 20,000 reservists.
The announcement comes as human rights groups warn that a humanitarian crisis could worsen in Gaza, where most residents have been displaced multiple times, neighbourhoods lie in ruins, and starvation deaths continue to rise amid the threat of widescale famine. An Israeli military official told journalists that the new phase of combat would involve a gradual precise and targeted operation in and around Gaza City, including some areas where forces had not previously operated.
Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from central Gaza, said residents are bracing for the worst as Israel pursues its plan to seize Gaza's largest city, in an operation that could displace hundreds of thousands of people to concentration zones in the south of the territory. Abu Azzoum said Israeli artillery has flattened rows of homes in eastern Gaza City as attacks intensified across densely populated areas.
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