Israel says he started his military operations to take over the city of Gaza

The Israeli army began an operation planned to take over the city of Gaza, Israeli military spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin said on Wednesday.

After a confrontation with Hamas near Khan Younis, in southern Gaza on Wednesday, he said: “We will deepen the attack on Hamas in Gaza City, a bastion of government and military terror for the terrorist organization.”

Defrin said the troops had already started to go around the outskirts of Gaza City and that Hamas was now a “beaten and bruised” guerrilla force.

“We started the preliminary operations and the first stages of the attack on Gaza City, and the TSAhal forces already hold the outskirts of Gaza City,” he said, referring to the Israeli defense forces.

The Israeli army called tens of thousands of reservists on Wednesday in preparation for the expected assault on the city of Gaza, because the Israeli government considered a new cease-fire proposal after almost two years of war.

The appeal points out that Israel is progressing with its plan to seize the largest urban center in Gaza despite international criticism of an operation likely to force the movement of many more Palestinians.

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Israel calls 60,000 reservists for a new Gaza offensive

The Israeli army called tens of thousands of reservists in preparation for an expected attack on the city of Gaza, as the Israeli government considered a new cease-fire proposal after almost two years of war.

On Wednesday, a military official said that reserve soldiers would not present themselves to service before September, an interval which gives mediators a little time to fill the gaps between Hamas and the Israeli government on the terms of the truce.

But after the Israeli troops clashed Wednesday with Hamas fighters in the Palestinian enclave, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Israeli chief had accelerated the calendar to take control of the Bastions of Hamas and defeat the militant group.

Hamas, in a statement on the Mail service telegram, accused Netanyahu of having hindered the cease-fire agreement in favor of continuing a “brutal war against innocent civilians in Gaza City”.

“Netanyahu’s contempt for mediators’ proposal … proves that he is the true obstructionist of any agreement.”

Israeli troops clashed on Wednesday with more than 15 Hamas activists who emerged from tunnel wells and attacked with shots and anti -tank missiles near Khan Younis, south of Gaza City, seriously injuring a soldier and wounding two others, said an Israeli military official.

In a statement, the Al-Qassam brigades in Hamas confirmed that they had made a raid on Israeli troops south-east of Khan Younis and engaging them with the chain at close range. He said that a fighter exploded among the soldiers, causing victims, during an attack that lasted several hours.

The war broke out in Gaza after around 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostage during an attack led by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli accounts. More than 61,000 Palestinians were killed in the military campaign of Israel in Gaza, according to local health officials, and a large part of the enclave has been destroyed.