Israel approves plan to conquer Gaza City, calls up reservists
Defence Minister Israel Katz's move, confirmed to AFP by a spokesperson, came as mediators awaited an official Israeli response on their latest proposal.
While mediator Qatar had expressed guarded optimism over the latest proposal, a senior 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'.
He told AFP that 'large numbers' of people were fleeing their neighbourhoods, with the majority of those displaced 'on the roads and streets without shelter.'
Aida Abu Madi, a 48-year-old resident of Zeitoun, said she fled on Wednesday with her husband, children and three grandchildren to the home of relatives in western Gaza City.
'I didn't hear about Israel's decision, but I saw my neighbours fleeing, so I fled too,' she told AFP by telephone.
Anis Daloul, 64, said he fled Zeitoun with his family on Sunday for a neighbourhood northwest of Gaza City.
Mediators await Israeli response to new truce offer
He told AFP by telephone that the Israeli military had 'destroyed most of the buildings in Zeitoun and displaced thousands of people'.
Israel's security cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the plan to conquer Gaza City in early August, sparking fears it will 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.
'Rejects escalation'
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.
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.
Israel to call up 50,000 reservists before Gaza City offensive, military official says
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.
Qatar, one of the mediators in the talks, said the latest proposal was 'almost identical' to an earlier version agreed by Israel, while Egypt said Monday that 'the ball is now in its (Israel's) court'.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 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'.
'Prolonged 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.
The official said the military had already begun operating in the neighbourhoods of Zeitoun and Jabalia as part of the initial stages.
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.
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.
Israel has long had ambitions to build on the roughly 12 square kilometres (five square miles) known as E1 that lie just east of Jerusalem, but the plan had been stalled for years.
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