{"id":161428,"date":"2025-08-21T06:32:54","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T06:32:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/israel-begins-first-stage-of-planned-assault-on-gaza-city-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T06:32:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T06:32:54","slug":"israel-begins-first-stage-of-planned-assault-on-gaza-city-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/israel-begins-first-stage-of-planned-assault-on-gaza-city-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel begins first stage of planned assault on Gaza City – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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TEL AVIV \u2014 Israel <\/a>entered the first stages of a planned assault on Gaza City on Wednesday after approving a plan to take it over<\/a> that includes calling up 60,000 reservists for an expanded military operation in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
“We have begun the preliminary actions and the initial stages of the offensive on Gaza City, and already now IDF forces are holding positions on the outskirts of Gaza City,” Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin told reporters Wednesday.
He added: “We will intensify the strikes on Hamas in Gaza City, the political and military stronghold of the terror organization.”
Defrin also said that to “minimize harm to civilians,” the IDF will be warning citizens to allow them to evacuate.
“We are continuing to allow humanitarian aid for the residents of the Strip and are even expanding it \u2014 with additional central aid distribution points,” he said.
The U.S. ally appeared to be pushing ahead Wednesday with a new phase of its war despite international opposition \u2014 and in the face of a renewed push <\/a>for a ceasefire with Hamas.
Defense Minister Israel Katz has<\/a> authorized the plans for the major new operation, a spokesperson for the ministry confirmed to NBC News. It will also see an additional 20,000 reservists have their service extended, the Israeli military said.
The assault is expected to force thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza to the south of the strip, which is suffering an intensifying hunger crisis under Israel\u2019s military offensive and aid restrictions.
In a statement Wednesday night, the prime minister’s office said that “ahead of approval of the plans for the operation in Gaza City, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed that the timetables \u2014 for seizing control of the last terrorist strongholds and the defeat of Hamas \u2014 be shortened.”
“The Prime Minister expresses his great appreciation for the reservist fighters who have been mobilized and their families, and all IDF soldiers,” the statement added. “Together we will win.”
Hamas criticized the Israeli military’s announcement and said in a statement that the Israeli government “insists on continuing its brutal war against innocent civilians, escalating its criminal operations in Gaza City with the aim of destroying it, and displacing its residents in a full-fledged war crime.”
The United Nations also denounced the military operations Wednesday. “Israel\u2019s reported decision to take full control of Gaza City and to forcibly displace its population will lead to mass killings of civilians and destruction of infrastructure vital to the survival of the population,” the U.N. human rights office for the Palestinian territories said in a statement.
President Donald Trump supports Israel’s efforts to disarm Hamas, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
“Israel has to make this decision and has to live with whatever decision they make. But President Trump is fully supportive of making sure that Hamas knows that from the U.S. perspective, they have to disarm, they have to give up and let all the hostages go,” he said. “Whether it takes 60 days or 60 minutes, that\u2019s the ultimate end result.”
Scores of people in Gaza have starved to death in recent weeks, including dozens of children, according to the Palestinian health ministry in the enclave.
In addition to mounting global outrage, sweeping protests have increasingly dominated Israel’s streets<\/a>, with growing numbers demanding an end to the offensive in the enclave.
Hundreds of thousands staged furious demonstrations last weekend alongside a general strike, fueled in part by fears that the planned Gaza City assault could endanger the lives of remaining hostages.
Israel also gave final approval for a widely contested settlement project in the occupied West Bank that would effectively split the territory in two. Palestinians and rights groups have warned the move could destroy plans for a future Palestinian state.
Huckabee said that recent announcements by European leaders recognizing a Palestinian state would be “counterproductive.”
“If they believe that, unilaterally, calling for a two-state a Palestinian state recognition immediately brings them closer, the sad truth is it\u2019s taking them further away,” he said.
Katz, who replaced Yoav Gallant<\/a> as defense minister last year, was olding a discussion Tuesday to approve “strike plans in Gaza” with the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, and other senior defense officials, the defense ministry had said.
The announcement of the expanded military operation comes after Israel appeared to shrug off news that Hamas had agreed to the latest proposal from Arab mediators for a ceasefire deal in Gaza that would free the remaining hostages.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told NBC News on Tuesday that the deal was based on a proposal by Trump\u2019s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff<\/a>, for a 60-day ceasefire, during which some of the remaining 50 hostages, both alive and dead, would be released with plans to negotiate a lasting ceasefire and the return of the rest.
\u201cThe ball is now in Israel\u2019s court,\u201d Abdelatty said, adding: \u201cWe would like a positive response from them as soon as possible in order to deal with the disastrous situation in Gaza, especially the starvation and the killing of civilians.\u201d
Asked about the development, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s office referred NBC News to a statement the Israeli leader made Monday suggesting he was determined to push ahead with the plan to assume full control of Gaza City and noting that Hamas appeared to be \u201cunder immense pressure.\u201d
Asked if they could confirm reports that Israel would provide a response to international mediators on the proposal by Friday, the spokesperson said \u201cno\u201d and did not provide further clarification.
New satellite imagery suggests that a number of people have already begun to flee the area of Gaza City in recent days ahead of Israel\u2019s advance, with the country\u2019s plan to push civilians living in the area into the enclave\u2019s south condemned by rights groups.
Imagery captured on Aug. 16 shows that sites just south of Gaza City are seemingly barren, having been packed with what appear to be tent camps just days before, on Aug. 9.
Mohammed Abu Sharia, a father of three, said he and his family had been forced to leave their home in Gaza City again \u2014 just months after returning from another round of displacement due to Israel\u2019s offensive.
\u201cThank God, we found our house almost intact and habitable, despite the theft of all its contents and the lack of doors or windows,\u201d Abu Sharia, 48, who ran an internet distribution company before Israel\u2019s assault began, told NBC News on Wednesday.
The family was able to live in their home for the past six months \u2014 but with Israel planning to take over Gaza City, they were now seeking some semblance of refuge in western Gaza.
\u201cThere is no safe place, neither in the north nor the south,\u201d Abu Sharia said. \u201cMy concern is to save the family\u2019s life, as we are suffering from food shortages and the lack of any belongings with us.\u201d
\u201cFurther displacement and an intensification in hostilities risk worsening an already catastrophic situation,\u201d the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement.
\u201cWith more than 80 percent of Gaza already impacted by evacuation orders, it is unimaginable that civilians could be compelled to move to an even smaller area,\u201d it said.
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and around 250 were taken hostage, marking a major escalation in a decadeslong conflict.
Since then, more than 62,000 people have been killed in Gaza, including thousands of children, according to the Palestinian health ministry in the enclave, with much of the territory destroyed.
Paul Goldman is a Tel Aviv-based producer and video editor for NBC News.
Chantal Da Silva reports on world news for NBC News Digital and is based in London.
© 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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