{"id":11220,"date":"2025-08-20T09:07:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T09:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/11220\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T09:07:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T09:07:10","slug":"israel-will-call-up-around-50000-reservists-for-new-gaza-city-offensive-military-official-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/11220\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel will call up around 50,000 reservists for new Gaza city offensive, military official says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meanwhile, Hamas is \u2018positive\u2019 on ceasefire call as Israel prepares offensiveCeasefire proposal \u2018almost identical\u2019 to one pushed by the US but Jerusalem stays silent for now\n<\/p>\n

Speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly, the official said that the military will be operating in parts of Gaza City where the Israeli military has not yet operated and where Hamas is still active.<\/p>\n

The official said after receiving approval from military leaders, the plan would now progress toward the final approval stage.<\/p>\n

It remains unclear when the operation will begin.<\/p>\n

The official said 50,000 reservists will be called up in the coming month, nearly doubling the number of active reservists to 120,000.<\/p>\n

The latest comes as a key mediator has stressed the urgency of brokering a ceasefire in Gaza after Hamas showed a \u201cpositive response\u201d to a proposal.<\/p>\n

But Israel has yet to weigh in as its military continues to prepare an offensive on some of the territory\u2019s most populated areas.<\/p>\n

The prospect of an expanded assault on areas sheltering hundreds of thousands of civilians has sparked condemnation inside Israel and abroad.<\/p>\n

Most war-weary Palestinians see no place in Gaza as safe, not even declared humanitarian zones, after 22 months of war.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A Palestinian boy mourns over the bodies of his uncle, Mohammad Harb and his cousin Leen Harb, who were killed in an Israeli airstrike, during their funeral at Nasser Hospital, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025. (AP Photo\/Mariam Dagga)<\/p>\n

Many Israelis, who rallied in their hundreds of thousands on Sunday, fear the offensive will further endanger the remaining hostages in Gaza. Just 20 of the 50 remaining are thought to be alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this [ceasefire] proposal fails, the crisis will exacerbate,\u201d Majed al-Ansari, a spokesperson for Qatar\u2019s foreign ministry, told journalists, adding they have yet to hear from Israel on it.<\/p>\n

Mr al-Ansari said Hamas had agreed to terms under discussion. He declined to provide details but said the proposal was \u201calmost identical\u201d to one previously advanced by US envoy Steve Witkoff.<\/p>\n

\"Ultra-Orthodox<\/p>\n

Ultra-Orthodox Jews block a highway during a protest against army recruitment, in Bnei Brak, Israel, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ohad Zwigenberg)<\/p>\n

That US proposal was for a 60-day ceasefire, during which some of the remaining hostages would be released and the sides would negotiate a lasting ceasefire and the return of the rest.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we get to a deal, it shouldn\u2019t be expected that it would be instantaneously implemented,\u201d Mr al-Ansari said. \u201cWe\u2019re not there yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

That cautious assessment came a day after the foreign minister of Egypt, the other Arab country mediating the talks, said they were pushing for a phased deal and noted that Qatar\u2019s prime minister had joined negotiations between Hamas leaders and Arab mediators.<\/p>\n

Mr Witkoff has been invited to rejoin the talks, Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

\"Palestinians<\/p>\n

Palestinians mourn over the bodies of their relatives, who were killed in an Israeli airstrike, during their funeral at Nasser Hospital, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025. (AP Photo\/Mariam Dagga)<\/p>\n

Mr Witkoff pulled out of negotiations less than a month ago, accusing Hamas of not acting in good faith.<\/p>\n

It was not clear how Mr Witkoff has responded to the invitation.<\/p>\n

An Israeli official on Monday said the country\u2019s positions, including on the release of all hostages, had not changed. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak with the media.<\/p>\n

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said a final push is needed to \u201ccomplete the defeat of Hamas\u201d.<\/p>\n

He has vowed to continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas has been disarmed.<\/p>\n

Hospitals in Gaza said they had received the bodies of 34 Palestinians killed yesterday, including women and children, as Israeli strikes continued across the territory.<\/p>\n

\"Police<\/p>\n

Police disperse ultra-Orthodox Jews blocking a highway during a protest against army recruitment, in Bnei Brak, Israel, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ohad Zwigenberg)<\/p>\n

Killings<\/p>\n

Among them were nine people killed while seeking aid, officials at two hospitals told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

The deaths were recorded across Gaza, including in central Deir al-Balah, southern Khan Younis and near aid distribution points, hospital officials said.<\/p>\n

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israeli-backed private American contractor that has become the primary distributor of aid in Gaza since May, operates those sites.<\/p>\n

Another two people were killed near a GHF site in central Gaza, according to Al-Awda Hospital. GHF said there were no violent incidents at any of its sites yesterday.<\/p>\n

\"Ultra-Orthodox<\/p>\n

Ultra-Orthodox Jews block a highway during a protest against army recruitment, in Bnei Brak, Israel, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ohad Zwigenberg)<\/p>\n

Nasser Hospital also said an airstrike killed a mother, father and three children in their tent overnight in Muwasi, a camp for hundreds of thousands of civilians.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn entire family was gone in an instant. What was their fault?\u201d the children\u2019s grandfather, Majed al-Mashwakhi, said.<\/p>\n

Neither the GHF nor Israel\u2019s military immediately responded to questions about the casualties reported by Nasser, Awda and al-Aqsa hospitals.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A Palestinian youth carries clothes as he walks over the rubble of a house demolished by the Israeli army in the West Bank village of Beit Sira. Photo: AP<\/p>\n

Today’s News in 90 Seconds – August 20th <\/p>\n

The Palestinian death toll in the war surpassed 62,000 on Monday, according to Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals.<\/p>\n

The ministry does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants, but says women and children make up around half of them.<\/p>\n

In addition to that toll, other Palestinians have died from malnutrition and starvation, including three reported in the past 24 hours, the ministry said yesterday.<\/p>\n

It says 154 adults have died of malnutrition-related causes since late June, when it began counting such deaths, and 112 children have died of malnutrition-related causes since the war began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.<\/p>\n

Aid groups continue to struggle to deliver supplies to Gaza, where most of the population is displaced, large swaths are in ruins and experts say the \u201cworst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Meanwhile, Hamas is \u2018positive\u2019 on ceasefire call as Israel prepares offensiveCeasefire proposal \u2018almost identical\u2019 to one pushed by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[7407,9,10,13,14,68,69,6,71,11,12,15,16,5,72,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-11220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-benjamin-netanyahu","9":"tag-breaking-news","10":"tag-breakingnews","11":"tag-featured-news","12":"tag-featurednews","13":"tag-gaza","14":"tag-hamas","15":"tag-headlines","16":"tag-israel","17":"tag-latest-news","18":"tag-latestnews","19":"tag-main-news","20":"tag-mainnews","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-palestine","23":"tag-top-stories","24":"tag-topstories","25":"tag-world","26":"tag-world-news","27":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}