IDF initiates steps for Gaza takeover after Netanyahu orders reduction in timelines
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "IDF initiates steps for Gaza takeover after Netanyahu orders reduction in timelines")
An Israeli soldier stands on a tank on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza, on August 20. Photograph: (Reuters)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Wednesday that the Israeli premier had ordered a reduction in timelines for taking control of Hamas strongholds and defeating the militant group, but it did not specify the new timelines.
Israel’s military has initiated the first steps of its planned operation to take over Gaza City after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a reduction in timelines for taking control of Hamas strongholds and defeating the group, Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said on Wednesday. After a clash with Hamas south of Khan Younis in the strip on Wednesday, Defrin said, “We will deepen the attack on Hamas in Gaza City, a stronghold of governmental and military terror for the terrorist organisation.”
The Israeli troops have already started circling the outskirts of Gaza City and Hamas was now a “battered and bruised” guerrilla force.
“We have begun the preliminary operations and the first stages of the attack on Gaza City, and already now [Israeli military] forces are holding the outskirts of Gaza City,” he said.
The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed on Wednesday that the Israeli premier had ordered a reduction in timelines for taking control of Hamas strongholds and defeating the militant group, but it did not specify the new timelines.
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Meanwhile, Israel’s military has called up tens of thousands of reservists in preparation for the assault on Gaza City, as the Israeli government considered a new proposal for a ceasefire after nearly two years of war.
The call-up indicates that Israel is moving ahead with its plan to seize Gaza’s biggest urban centre despite international disapproval of an operation that is likely to result in the displacement of more Palestinians.
A military official briefing reporters said that the reserve soldiers would not report for duty until September, an interval that gives mediators some time to close in the gaps between Hamas and Israel over truce terms.
On Wednesday, Israeli troops clashed with more than 15 Hamas militants who emerged from tunnel shafts and attacked them with gunfire and anti-tank missiles near Khan Younis, south of Gaza City, severely wounding one soldier and lightly wounding two others, said an Israeli military official.
Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades confirmed carrying out a raid on Israeli troops southeast of Khan Younis and engaging Israeli troops at point-blank range. It said in a statement that one fighter blew himself up among the soldiers, causing casualties, during the attack.
