Civilians have been given until 7 October to leave marking the start of the conflict following Hamas’s attack two years ago
Israel has begun calling up 60,000 reservists to capture and occupy Gaza City, the military said, while issuing orders for residents to leave.
Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz has approved plans for the offensive, dubbed “Gideon’s Chariots II”, to seize the largest remaining area of Gaza not under full Israeli control, which is home to an estimated 800,000 civilians. The ground offensive launched in May has seen Israel take control of at least 75 per cent of the enclave.
A total of 130,000 troops will be called up over three waves for the operation, which will continue into 2026, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said.
Civilians will have until 7 October to flee, marking the two-year anniversary of the Hamas attacks that marked the start of the war.
Criticism of Israel’s plan
The news of the offensive has garnered criticism from some world leaders with the French President, Emmanuel Macron, saying it would lead to a “true disaster” and drag the region into a permanent war.
Germany said it found it “increasingly difficult to understand how these actions will lead to the freeing of all the hostages, or to a ceasefire”, the government spokesperson Steffen Meyer told reporters.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said the plan would “risk worsening an already catastrophic situation” for Gazans.
The World Food Programme warned that malnutrition was “rising fast” in Gaza.
Sir Keir Starmer has previously said the UK would recognise a Palestinian state as a result of the “increasingly intolerable” situation in Gaza unless Israel took steps to end the suffering of Gazans.
The move followed a similar pledge by Macron with Canada and Australia following suit.
Ceasefire deal
The plans for an offensive on Gaza comes as Hamas and other Palestinian factions allegedly accepted a ceasefire proposal.
Negotiators from Qatar and Egypt have been working to secure an agreement between the two sides.
It has been reported that a 60-day truce was proposed in exchange for half of the 50 remaining hostages held by Hamas – 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Hamas said it had accepted the proposal but there was no formal response from Israel.
Informally, Israel has said it will only agree to a deal which would see all hostages returned.
West Bank plan
Israel has given final approval for a controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank that would effectively cut the territory in two, and that Palestinians and rights groups say could destroy plans for a future Palestinian state.
The settlement development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades, but was frozen due to US pressure during previous administrations.
On Wednesday, the project received final approval from the planning and building committee after the last petitions against it were rejected on 6 August.
The plan includes around 3,500 apartments to expand the settlement of Maale Adumim, Israel’s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said during a press conference at the site last Thursday.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned the move which he stated would breach international law.
He said: “If implemented, it would divide a Palestinian state in two, mark a flagrant breach of international law and critically undermine the two-state solution.
“The Israeli government must reverse this decision.”
Netanyahu hits back at critics
Amid the international backlash over Gaza and the West Bank plan, Benjamin Netanyahu sent letters to the leaders of France and Australia, accusing Macron and Anthony Albanese of fueling antisemitism.
The Israeli prime minister has also criticised Starmer for rewarding Hamas with his plans to recognise a Palestinian state.
“Let’s imagine, what would be the response of Britain if about 15,000 people would be butchered in one day, and you’d have, I don’t know, 2,500 hostages taken. Would you say, ‘Oh, well, we should give our attackers a state right next to London?’ Of course not.,” Netanyahu told a podcast.
““And I think that it’s shameful the way that the Western leaders in Britain, in France, in Canada and New Zealand, the way they buckle. They attack the Jewish state, and they give a prize for those who would destroy the one and only Jewish state. Shameful.”
