‘Gideon's chariots B': Israeli defense minister approves Gaza city siege plan; calls up 60,000 reservists for operation
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz has approved the military's plan to capture Gaza City and authorised the call-up of about 60,000 reservists to support the operation, the Defence Ministry told AFP on Wednesday.
Katz's office said the minister met with IDF chief of staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, senior commanders, and Shin Bet officials before authorising the operation. The Israeli military declined to share details on troop movements, saying only that it was 'operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities' while taking 'feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm.'
The offensive, codenamed 'Gideon's Chariots B,' follows an earlier campaign under the same name in which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) took control of 75% of Gaza's territory in an attempt to pressure Hamas into a hostage deal.
The announcement comes as mediators intensify efforts to secure a ceasefire in the nearly two-year war. Hamas has approved a framework calling for a 60-day truce, a staggered release of hostages, the freeing of Palestinian prisoners, and provisions for aid to enter Gaza. However, a senior Israeli official said the government remains firm on its demand that all hostages must be released at once.
Qatar said the latest proposal was 'almost identical' to an earlier version agreed by Israel, while Egypt stressed that 'the ball is now in its (Israel's) court.'
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet publicly commented on the proposal but last week stated that Israel would only accept 'an agreement in which all the hostages are released at once and according to our conditions for ending the war," reported AFP.
Responding to the talks, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi said his group had 'opened the door wide to the possibility of reaching an agreement, but the question remains whether Netanyahu will once again close it, as he has done in the past.'
The war began after Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, which killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's response has since killed at least 62,064 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.
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