Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he is giving the final approval for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) takeover of Gaza City and reopening talks with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in hopes of securing the release of the remaining hostages.
“I came here to approve the IDF plans for taking control of Gaza City and defeating Hamas. In parallel, I instructed to begin immediate negotiations for the release of all our hostages and the end of the war, on conditions that are acceptable for Israel,” Netanyahu said on Thursday.
“Those two things, the defeat of Hamas and the release of all our hostages, go hand in hand,” the prime minister added during a visit to the IDF’s Gaza command in southern Israel.
Israel is calling up tens of thousands of reservists ahead of its expanded military incursion into Gaza City. The operation around and in Gaza City could begin in the coming days.
The IDF soldiers will operate in areas of Gaza City where they have not previously, an Israeli military official said on Wednesday.
The Israeli military has called up about 60,000 reservists and another 20,000 got their services extended. Most of the reservists are not expected to operate in Gaza City.
“All that said, in Gaza, the main forces operating on the next stage of the operation will be our active duty forces,” the military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to brief the news media, said on Wednesday. “We will have five divisions operating in Gaza in different operations focusing on Gaza City.”
The most recent Arab-led ceasefire proposal was accepted by Hamas, a U.S.-government-designated foreign terrorist organization. Netanyahu’s comments on Thursday seem to be the first reaction by Israel to the ceasefire proposal, crafted by Qatari and Egyptian officials. Egyptian officials argued the proposal is nearly identical to the one Jerusalem accepted before the discussion between Israel and Hamas was thwarted in July.
The ceasefire offer would see the freeing of some hostages held by Hamas, the freeing of Palestinians held in prison by Israel, continuation of talks over a longer-term truce and the withdrawal of IDF soldiers from parts of Gaza.
Israeli soldiers started limited operations at a Jabaliya refugee camp and in Zeitoun, a neighborhood in Gaza City, The Associated Press (AP) reported on Thursday. The Israeli military killed 36 Palestinians across Gaza on Thursday, the AP reported, citing local hospitals. The IDF says it controls about 75 percent of the war-torn enclave.
Hamas’ militants ignited the war after killing around 1,200 Israelis and taking about 250 people hostage on Oct. 7, 2023. Since then, the Israeli military has killed over 62,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
