The Israeli military's Chief of Staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, has approved plans for the next phase of the Gaza war on Sunday, and will present it to the Ministry of Defence on Tuesday, Kan News said, clearing the way for its troops to begin a ground assault on the enclave.
Israel will “continue to reshape the security reality” in the region after its operations in Gaza, Iran, Yemen, Lebanon and the occupied West Bank, Kan reported him as saying earlier.
“We will maintain the momentum of Operation Gideon’s Chariots while focusing on Gaza city,” Lt Gen Zamir said, referring to the planned ground assault.
The statement came after Israeli troops bombed Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza city as the military advanced plans to forcibly displace Palestinians to the south of the enclave, despite massive protests in Israel against the latest war plans. At least seven Palestinians were killed on Sunday in Israeli strikes on the courtyard of Al Ahli Hospital.
The Israeli army announced late on Saturday that it was preparing to move Palestinians before the offensive to capture Gaza city, where more than a million people are sheltering. The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, Cogat, said the supply of tents to the territory would resume on Sunday.
His comments came after the security cabinet voted earlier this month to approve a military offensive in the northern Gaza Strip.
Hamas condemned the planned operation, saying it was part of a “brutal assault to occupy Gaza city”. The Israeli plan to expand the war has drawn widespread criticism, with the UN calling it a “dangerous escalation” that risks worsening “already catastrophic consequences” for Palestinians in Gaza, as well as Israeli captives held by Hamas.
Families of hostages and bereaved Israelis launched a nationwide strike on Sunday to protest against the government's decision to expand the war rather than agree on a ceasefire deal.
The protests were planned throughout the day at 400 sites, with endorsements from thousands of businesses. About a million people were expected to gather in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv.
Major roads were closed in central Israel, while some relatives of hostages said they would set up a tent encampment near the border with Gaza.
The Israeli government last week approved plans for the military, which controls about 75 per cent of Gaza, to launch an assault on Gaza city
In recent days, Gaza city residents have described more frequent air strikes, including in Al Zeitoun neighbourhood. The enclave's civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said conditions there were rapidly deteriorating, with residents having little to no access to food and water.
The war began with an attack by Palestinian militants from Gaza, led by the Islamist group Hamas, on October 7, 2023. About 1,200 people were killed in the raids on southern Israel and about 240 taken hostage.
Israel has pledged to destroy Hamas and is demanding the group disarm and hand over about 50 hostages still in captivity, of whom 20 are believed to be still alive, in exchange for a ceasefire.
Israel insists that Hamas has no role in the postwar governance of Gaza, while also refusing to allow it to be administered by the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority, based in the occupied West Bank. Far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government are calling for the territory to be taken over by Israel, 20 years after Israel pulled out of Gaza.
