The Israeli military has announced that it will call up 60,000 reservists in the coming weeks as it pushes forward with a plan to seize Gaza City.
The military said on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, that Defence Minister, Israel Katz approved plans to begin operations in some of Gaza’s most densely populated areas, and that it would call up 60,000 reservists and lengthen the service of an additional 20,000 reservists.
An Israeli military official told journalists that the new phase of combat would involve “a gradual precise and targeted operation in and around Gaza City,” including some areas where forces had not previously operated.
The official said that the military had already begun operating in the neighbourhoods of Zeitoun and Jabalia as part of the initial stages.
The Israeli military official noted that most forces that would operate in the Gaza Strip’s largest urban centre would be active duty soldiers.
The call-up notices could be sent in the coming days, with reservists to report for duty in September, the military official said. “Most of the troops that will be mobilised in this new stage will be active duty and not reservists,” stressed the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.
Israeli Opposition leader, Yair Lapid criticised the government’s decision to call up 60,000 reservists for Israel’s planned assault on Gaza City. “60,000 reserve orders were issued this morning to realise the delusion of conquering Gaza,” the opposition leader wrote on X.
Israel’s plan to escalate its assault coincides with renewed mediation efforts led by Qatar and Egypt, with backing from the United States. The latest framework calls for a 60-day truce, a staggered exchange of captives and Palestinian prisoners, and expanded aid access.
While Qatar said the proposal was “almost identical” to a version Israel had previously accepted, Egypt stressed that “the ball is now in its (Israel’s) court.”
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has not publicly commented on the proposal. Last week, he insisted any deal must ensure “all the hostages are released at once and according to our conditions for ending the war.”
The truce push comes amid mounting international criticism of Israel’s conduct in the war and growing domestic pressure on Netanyahu.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health has said at least 62,064 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s war on Gaza started on October 7, 2023, most of them civilians. The United Nations regards the ministry’s figures as credible.
Israel Gives Final Approval For Settlement Project In West Bank
Meanwhile, Israel gave final approval on Wednesday for a controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank that would effectively cut the territory in two, and that Palestinians and rights groups say could destroy hopes for a future Palestinian state.
Settlement development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades, but was frozen due to US pressure during previous administrations.
The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.
Far-right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, a former settler leader, cast the approval as a rebuke to western countries that announced their plans to recognize a Palestinian state in recent weeks.
“The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not with slogans but with actions. Every settlement, every neighborhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea.”
Bezalel Smotrich
The Mayor of the nearby Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, Guy Yifrach, confirmed that Israel has approved a major settlement project on Wednesday in an area of the occupied West Bank that the international community has warned threatens the viability of a future Palestinian state. “I am pleased to announce that just a short while ago, the civil administration approved the planning for the construction of the E1 neighbourhood,” Yifrach, said in a statement.
