Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz approved on Tuesday night, August 19, the plan presented by the Defense Forces (IDF) to seize Gaza City and authorized the mobilization of some 60,000 reservists to participate in the operation, his office confirmed on Wednesday. The information had been reported by various media outlets.

A Defense Ministry spokesperson indicated that Katz "has approved the Israeli army's plan of attack on Gaza City." The minister also endorsed "the issuance of mobilization orders for the reservists needed to carry out the mission," which totals some 60,000 men. According to the Israeli newspaper Maariv, another 70,000 will have to extend their current service for an additional 30 or 40 days.

According to the spokesperson, the official also authorized "humanitarian preparations for the evacuation" of the population of that town, the largest in the north of the war-ravaged Palestinian territory. This is estimated to involve the forced mobilization of around one million people, many of them already internally displaced from other parts of the Gaza Strip.

No response to proposal

In early August, Israel announced that it was preparing to take control of Gaza City and neighboring refugee camps with the stated aim of defeating Hamas, a group considered a terrorist group by the European Union, and freeing the hostages taken during the Palestinian Islamist movement's attack on October 7, 2023, which triggered the conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced late last week that he had adopted the new plan, approved by his security cabinet, for this new phase of operations in the Strip. Israel has not commented on the latest ceasefire proposal, after Hamas said two days ago that it had approved a truce agreement proposed by Egyptian and Qatari mediators.