Israel Defence Minister Approves Plan To Conquer Gaza City
Defence Minister Israel Katz's move, confirmed to AFP by a spokesperson, piled pressure on Hamas as mediators pushing for a ceasefire in the nearly two-year war in Gaza 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.
Israel and Hamas have held on-and-off indirect negotiations throughout the war, resulting in two short truces during which Israeli hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
The latest truce proposal came after Israel's security cabinet approved plans to conquer Gaza City, despite fears it will worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have mediated the frequent rounds of shuttle diplomacy.
Qatar 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 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".
Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi said on social media that 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 latest truce proposal came as Netanyahu faces increasing pressure at home and abroad.
In Gaza, the civil defence agency reported Israeli strikes and fire killed 48 people across the territory on Tuesday.
Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP the situation was "very dangerous and unbearable" in the Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods of Gaza City, where he said "shelling continues intermittently".
The Israeli military declined to comment on specific troop movements, saying only that it was "operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities" and took "feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm".
The military later said a strike in Khan Yunis overnight targeted a Hamas militant.
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.
In the Zikim area of northern Gaza on Tuesday, an AFP journalist saw Palestinians hauling sacks of food aid along dusty roads lined with rubble and damaged buildings.
Gazan Shawg Al-Badri said it took "three to four hours" to carry flour, what she called "white gold", back to her family's tent.
"This bag is worth the whole world," she said.
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 62,064 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which the United Nations considers reliable. Mediators are awaiting an official Israeli response to the latest truce plan AFP A Palestinian woman and children run from Israeli air strikes in the Saftawi neighborhood of the northern Gaza Strip AFP People attend a demonstration in Tel Aviv organised by families and friends of Israelis held hostage by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip AFP
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DW
2 hours ago
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Middle East: Israel approves expanded Gaza City operation – DW – 08/20/2025
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The UN has warned that the plan would divide the West Bank and make any two-state solution untenable. A statement released by Smotrich's office announcing the settlements said they were "burying the idea of a Palestinian state." The plan Smotrich presented would divide the occupied West Bank, Aviv Tatarsky, a researcher at the Ir Amim organization, told DW when it was introduced last week. "It breaks up the West Bank into a northern part and the southern part," he said, adding that it would make a Palestinian state "not possible." Plans for new Israeli settlements in the West Bank have been widely condemned and are considered illegal under international law, which Israel has consistently disputed. Israel's Defense Ministry has approved plans to call up tens of thousands of reservists ahead of a planned operation in Gaza City. The newspaper, citing military officials, reported on Monday that about 60,000 reservists would be called up in stages. 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DW
6 hours ago
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Israel prepares to intensify its operations in Gaza City – DW – 08/20/2025
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has approved plans to encircle and occupy Gaza City and the surrounding displacement camps. Gaza City is one of the most densely populated areas in the Gaza Strip, home to several hundred thousand Palestinians, who now face the possibility of being displaced once again. Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City have devastated a displacement camp, forcing thousands to flee south. A recent ceasefire proposal briefly raised hopes, but Israel appears to have rejected it, demanding the release of all hostages. Israel's defense minister has now approved plans to expand military operations and seize Gaza City. With tanks on the border and tens of thousands of reservists mobilized, the people in Gaza fear further escalation and express despair over the fading prospects for peace.
DW
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FM Wadephul: Doubts about meeting of Zelenskyy and Putin
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