Netanyahu says he will push ahead with Gaza City takeover amid renewed ceasefire talks

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he will give final approval for the takeover of Gaza City while also restarting negotiations with Hamas aimed at returning all the remaining hostages and ending the war on Israel’s terms.

The wide-scale operation in Gaza City could start within days. Netanyahu’s approval was expected during a meeting with senior security officials late Thursday, but no decision was announced before midnight in Jerusalem. Hamas said earlier this week that it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal from Arab mediators, which — if accepted by Israel — could forestall the offensive.

The Israeli military has begun calling medical officials and international organizations in the northern Gaza Strip to encourage them to evacuate to the south ahead of the expanded operation. The military plans to call up 60,000 reservists and extend the service of 20,000 more.

Israeli strikes, meanwhile, killed at least 36 Palestinians Thursday across Gaza, according to local hospitals. A renewed offensive could bring even more casualties and displacement to the territory, where the war has already killed tens of thousands and where experts have warned of imminent famine.

AP correspondent Karen Chammas reports on more Palestinians killed whilst getting aid in Gaza by Israeli troops as Israel plans to send tens of thousands more into the besieged territory.

Many Israelis fear the operation could also doom the remaining 20 or so living hostages taken by Hamas-led militants in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war.

Gaza City operation could begin in days

During a visit to the military’s Gaza command in southern Israel, Netanyahu said he would approve the army’s plans to retake Gaza City and had instructed officials “to begin immediate negotiations” for the release of all hostages “and an end to the war on terms acceptable to Israel.”

“These two things — defeating Hamas and releasing all our hostages — go hand in hand,” he said.

It appeared to mark Israel’s first public response to the latest ceasefire proposal drawn up by Egypt and Qatar. Egyptian and Hamas officials say it is almost identical to an earlier one that Israel accepted before the talks stalled last month.

The proposal would include the release of some of the hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, a pullback of Israeli forces and negotiations over a more lasting ceasefire.

Israeli troops have already begun more limited operations in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood and the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp, areas where they have carried out several previous large-scale raids over the course of the war, only to see militants later regroup.

The military says it plans to operate in areas where ground troops have not yet entered and where it says Hamas still has military and governing capabilities.

So far, there has been little sign of Palestinians fleeing en masse, as they did when Israel carried out an earlier offensive in Gaza City in the opening weeks of the war. The military says it controls around 75% of Gaza, and residents say nowhere in the territory feels safe.

Protests in Israel, Gaza

Hundreds gathered Thursday for a rare protest in Gaza City against the war and Israel’s plans to support the mass relocation of Palestinians to other countries.

Women and children held placards reading “Save Gaza” and “Stop the war, stop the savage attack, save us,” against a backdrop of destroyed buildings as Palestinian music played. Unlike in previous protests, there were no expressions of opposition to Hamas.

“We want the war on Gaza to stop. We don’t want to migrate. Twenty-two months … it’s enough. Enough death. Enough destruction,” said Bisan Ghazal, a woman displaced from Gaza City.

In Israel, protesters marched Thursday night in Tel Aviv holding banners that read “The people will bring back the hostages” and “How much blood will be spilled?”

Among the demonstrators was Dudu Dotan, who said Netanyahu is endangering the remaining hostages by moving forward with the planned Gaza City offensive. Of the 50 still being held in Gaza, Israel believes about 20 hostages are still alive.

“This way will not bring the hostages back,” Dotan said. “Every hostage he brought back, he brought back through deals. And every time he tried to bring them back with military force, he caused the hostages to be killed.”

Plans for widening the offensive have also sparked international outrage, with many of Israel’s closest Western allies —but not the United States — calling on it to end the war.

Dozens killed across Gaza

At least 36 Palestinians were killed Thursday by Israeli fire across the Gaza Strip, including 14 who were seeking humanitarian aid, according to local hospitals. The military says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas.

The Israeli military said it killed several armed militants in the Morag Corridor, a military zone where people seeking aid have repeatedly come under fire in recent weeks, according to witnesses and health officials. Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza had earlier reported that six people were killed in that area while seeking aid on Thursday. It was not possible to reconcile the two accounts.

The Media Freedom Coalition, which promotes press freedoms worldwide, called Thursday for Israel to allow independent foreign news organizations access to Gaza. Aside from rare guided tours, Israel has barred international media during the war, in which at least 184 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed.

“Journalists and media workers play an essential role in putting the spotlight on the devastating reality of war,” said a statement signed by 27 of the coalition’s member countries.

• Associated Press