Israel Begins First Steps in Bid to Seize Gaza City, Calls Up Reservists

Troops on outskirts of enclave's largest urban center as Israel weighs truce proposal

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TEL AVIV - Israel's military announced the first steps of an operation to take over Gaza City on Aug. 20 and called up tens of thousands of reservists while the government considered a new ceasefire proposal to pause nearly two years of war.

"We have begun the preliminary operations and the first stages of the attack on Gaza City, and already now IDF (Israel Defence Forces) are holding the outskirts of Gaza City," Brigadier-General Effie Defrin, Israel's military spokesman, told reporters.

A military official briefing reporters earlier on Aug. 20 said reserve soldiers would not report for duty until September, an interval that gives mediators some time to bridge gaps between Hamas and Israel over truce terms.

But after Israeli troops clashed with Hamas fighters in the Palestinian enclave on Aug. 20, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the Israeli leader sped up the timeline for taking control of Hamas strongholds and defeating the militant group that triggered the conflict with an attack on Israel in October 2023.

The Israeli statements signaled the country was pressing ahead with its plan to seize Gaza's biggest urban center, despite international criticism of an operation likely to force the displacement of many more Palestinians.

Brig.-Gen. Defrin said troops were already operating on the outskirts of Gaza City, and Hamas was now a "battered and bruised" guerrilla force.

"We will deepen the attack on Hamas in Gaza City, a stronghold of governmental and military terror for the terrorist organization," the spokesman said.