Israel has begun the first phase of a planned operation to seize Gaza City, military spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin said on Wednesday, describing Hamas as a “battered and bruised” guerrilla force.
“We will deepen the attack on Hamas in Gaza City, a stronghold of governmental and military terror,” Defrin said, adding that Israeli forces had started circling the city’s outskirts and were “holding the outskirts” after launching preliminary moves.
The military said tens of thousands of reservists were being called up in preparation for the expected push, even as the government considers a new ceasefire proposal nearly two years into the war. A military official told reporters reservists would not report until September, a window mediators hope to use to narrow gaps between Israel and Hamas over truce terms.
On Wednesday, Israeli troops clashed with more than 15 Hamas fighters who emerged from tunnel shafts near Khan Younis, south of Gaza City, and fired small arms and anti-tank missiles, the military said. One soldier was severely wounded and two were lightly injured.
Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said it carried out a close-range raid against Israeli forces southeast of Khan Younis and that one of its fighters detonated himself among the troops, claiming casualties after hours of fighting.