Israel approves Gaza City conquest plan amid ceasefire talks
The Palestinian militant group said in response that it showed Israel's 'blatant disregard' for efforts to broker a halt in fighting and a hostage-release deal in the nearly two-year conflict.
It also criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's lack of response to the proposal, accusing him of being 'the real obstacle to any agreement' and of not caring about the lives of Israeli hostages.
Defence Minister Israel Katz's order to send more troops into Gaza City, confirmed to AFP by a spokesman, came as an Israeli official said the government stood firm on its call for the release of all hostages in any agreement.
The framework that Hamas had approved proposes an initial 60-day truce, a staggered hostage release, the freeing of some Palestinian prisoners and provisions allowing for the entry of aid into Gaza.
On the ground in Gaza City on Wednesday, Mustafa Qazzaat, head of the emergency committee in the Gaza municipality, described the situation as 'catastrophic', with 'large numbers' fleeing eastern neighbourhoods.
One resident, Anis Daloul, 64, said the Israeli military had 'destroyed most of the buildings in Zeitoun and displaced thousands of people'.
Israel's security cabinet chaired by Netanyahu approved the plan to conquer Gaza City in early August, sparking fears it would worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
According to Israeli media reports, Netanyahu has not yet called a security cabinet meeting to discuss any response to the latest truce proposal.
His office said in a statement Wednesday that the prime minister had 'directed that the timetables for seizing control of the last terrorist strongholds and the defeat of Hamas be shortened', without indicating a specific timeframe.
'Permanent war'
Netanyahu has come under growing pressure at home and abroad to end the war, with the German government saying on Wednesday that it 'rejects the escalation' of Israel's campaign.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the offensive 'can only lead to a complete disaster for both peoples', warning it would 'drag the region into a permanent war'.
Katz's approval of plans to conquer Gaza City came days after Hamas said it had accepted the latest proposal from mediators for a ceasefire to halt almost two years of devastating war.
Sources from Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad told AFP on Wednesday that the proposal envisages the release of 10 hostages and 18 bodies from Gaza.
The remaining captives would be released in a second exchange within the 60-day period, during which negotiations for a permanent ceasefire would take place, the sources said.
Israel and Hamas have held on-off indirect negotiations throughout the war, resulting in two short truces during which Israeli hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas's October 2023 attack that triggered the war, 49 are still in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
Qatar, one of the mediators in the talks, said the latest proposal was 'almost identical' to an earlier version agreed by Israel.
Netanyahu has yet to publicly comment on the truce plan but said last week that his country would accept 'an agreement in which all the hostages are released at once and according to our conditions for ending the war'.
'Gradual operation'
An Israeli military official told journalists on Wednesday 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.
Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes and fire killed at least 25 people across the territory on Wednesday.
When contacted by AFP, the Israeli military asked for coordinates and specific timeframes to comment on the reports but said it would look into reports of eight people killed by Israeli fire near an aid site in the centre of Gaza.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swathes of the Palestinian territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.
The Israeli military said it killed 10 Hamas militants in southern Gaza on Wednesday while repelling an attack by the armed wing of the Islamist group, which claimed it killed several Israeli soldiers.
Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel's offensive has killed at least 62,122 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which the United Nations considers reliable.
In the West Bank, Israel on Wednesday approved a major settlement project in an area that the international community has warned threatens the viability of a future Palestinian state.
The Palestinian Authority swiftly condemned the approval 'in the strongest terms', saying it entrenched division in the territory. - AFP
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