JERUSALEM: The Israeli army stated Wednesday (Aug 13) it had accredited the “framework” for a brand new offensive within the Gaza Strip, days after the safety Cupboard referred to as for the seizure of Gaza Metropolis.
Armed forces chief Lieutenant Common Eyal Zamir “accredited the principle framework for the IDF’s operational plan within the Gaza Strip”, an announcement launched by the military stated.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s authorities has not offered a exact timetable for when Israeli troops will enter the territory’s largest metropolis, the place hundreds have taken refuge after fleeing earlier offensives.
Gaza’s civil defence company stated Israeli air strikes on Gaza Metropolis have intensified in current days, with the residential neighbourhoods of Zeitoun and Sabra hit “with very heavy air strikes concentrating on civilian houses, presumably together with high-rise buildings”.
Information of the army’s approval of the plan comes hours after Hamas stated a senior delegation had arrived in Cairo for “preliminary talks” with Egyptian officers on a brief truce.
The Netanyahu authorities’s plans to expand the Gaza war after greater than 22 months of combating have sparked a global outcry in addition to home opposition.
UN-backed specialists have warned of widespread famine unfolding within the territory, the place Israel has drastically curtailed the quantity of humanitarian assist it permits in.
Hamas’s October 2023 assault which triggered the battle resulted within the deaths of 1,219 individuals, in keeping with an AFP tally based mostly on official figures.
Israel’s offensive has killed no less than 61,599 Palestinians, in keeping with figures from the well being ministry in Hamas-run Gaza which the United Nations considers dependable.
