Israel approves plan to ‘conquer' Gaza City
While mediator Qatar had expressed optimism over the latest proposal, a senior Israeli official said the government stood firm on its call for the release of all captives in any agreement.
The framework that Hamas had approved proposes an initial 60-day truce, a staggered release of captives, 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 said 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 said.
Anis Daloul, 64, said he fled Zeitoun with his family on Sunday for a neighbourhood northwest of Gaza City.
He said 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.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday warned of a 'permanent war' amid Israel's planned military operation in Gaza City.
'The military offensive in Gaza that Israel is preparing can only lead to disaster for both peoples and risks plunging the entire region into a cycle of permanent war,' Macron wrote on X.
Macron reiterated his call for a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
He also named the release of all captives, a large-scale provision of humanitarian aid for the people in Gaza as well as the disarmament of the Hamas organisation and the strengthening of the Palestinian Authority as prerequisites for an end
to the war. — Agencies
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Israel defence minister approves plan to conquer Gaza City
Jerusalem : Israel's defence minister has approved a plan for the conquest of Gaza City and authorised the call-up of around 60,000 reservists to carry it out, his ministry confirmed on Wednesday. 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". - 'White gold' - 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.
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Israel approves plan to ‘conquer' Gaza City
Israel's defence minister approved a plan on Wednesday for the conquest of Gaza City and authorised the call-up of around 60,000 reservists, piling pressure on Hamas as mediators push for a ceasefire. Defence Minister Israel Katz's move, confirmed by a spokesperson, came as mediators awaited an official Israeli response to their latest proposal. While mediator Qatar had expressed optimism over the latest proposal, a senior Israeli official said the government stood firm on its call for the release of all captives in any agreement. The framework that Hamas had approved proposes an initial 60-day truce, a staggered release of captives, 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 said 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 said. Anis Daloul, 64, said he fled Zeitoun with his family on Sunday for a neighbourhood northwest of Gaza City. He said 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. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday warned of a 'permanent war' amid Israel's planned military operation in Gaza City. 'The military offensive in Gaza that Israel is preparing can only lead to disaster for both peoples and risks plunging the entire region into a cycle of permanent war,' Macron wrote on X. Macron reiterated his call for a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. He also named the release of all captives, a large-scale provision of humanitarian aid for the people in Gaza as well as the disarmament of the Hamas organisation and the strengthening of the Palestinian Authority as prerequisites for an end to the war. — Agencies
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Palestinian Authority condemns Israel's WB settlement plan
The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday slammed Israel's approval of a key settlement project in the occupied West Bank, saying it undermined the chances of a two-state solution. The approval of the project in the area known as E1 "fragments... geographic and demographic unity, entrenching the division of the occupied West Bank into isolated areas and cantons that are disconnected from one another, turning them into something akin to real prisons," the PA's foreign ministry said in a statement. Israel approved a major settlement project on Wednesday in an area of the occupied West Bank 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 known as E1 that lie just east of Jerusalem, but the plan had been stalled for years amid international opposition. Critics say the settlement would undermine hopes for a contiguous Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Last week, Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich backed plans to build some 3,400 homes on the ultra-sensitive parcel of land that lies between Jerusalem and the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim. UN chief Antonio Guterres warned that constructing Israeli homes there would "put an end to" hopes for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "I am pleased to announce that just a short while ago, the civil administration approved the planning for the construction of the E1 neighbourhood," the mayor of Maale Adumim, Guy Yifrach, said in a statement on Wednesday. All of Israel's settlements in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, are considered illegal under international law, regardless of whether they have Israeli planning permission. Aviv Tatarsky, a researcher at the Israeli anti-settlement organisation Ir Amim, said: "Today's approval demonstrates how determined Israel is in pursuing what Minister Smotrich has described as a strategic programme to bury the possibility of a Palestinian state and to effectively annex the West Bank. "This is a conscious Israeli choice to implement an apartheid regime," he added, calling on the international community to take urgent and effective measures against the move. Israeli NGO Peace Now, which monitors settlement activity in the West Bank, said last week that infrastructure work in E1 could begin within a few months, and housing construction within about a year. Excluding East Jerusalem, the West Bank is home to around three million Palestinians, as well as about 500,000 Israeli settlers. Meanwhile, Israel's defence minister approved a plan for the conquest of Gaza City and authorised the call-up of around 60,000 reservists, piling pressure on Hamas as mediators push for a ceasefire. Defence Minister Israel Katz's move came as mediators awaited an official Israeli response to 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. 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 said that "large numbers" of people were fleeing their neighbourhoods, with the majority of those displaced "on the roads and streets without shelter." — AFP
