Star Metro - Israel builds up military ahead of Gaza City offensive

Despite mounting pressure at home and abroad to end its campaign in the Palestinian territory, Israel is gearing up to seize Gaza's largest city -- intensifying bombardments and operating in the outskirts in recent days.

The United Nations estimates that nearly a million people live in Gaza City and its surroundings, where a famine has been declared.

In a statement, the military said it had in recent days "been carrying out logistical and operational preparations ahead of expanded combat operations and the large-scale mobilisation of reservists."

Israeli media reported that reservists began responding to draft orders, with Channel 12 saying a second wave was expected in November.

Approving the military's plans for the conquest of Gaza City in late August, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had authorised the call-up of about 60,000 reservists.

At the time, an Israeli military official told journalists the draft would begin in September and that the main forces operating in Gaza in the next stage of the campaign would be active duty forces, not reservists.

On the ground in Gaza, the civil defence agency said at least 45 people had been killed by Israeli forces, including 10 in an air strike on a residential building in the southwest of Gaza City.

AFP footage from the aftermath of the strike in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood showed rescue workers sifting through piles of rubble and mangled metal on the top floor of the building, from where Palestinians retrieved the body of a dead girl.

"We were sleeping safely in our homes and suddenly we woke up to the sound of bombing and destruction and found most of our neighbours murdered and injured," said Sanaa al-Dreimli, who witnessed the strike.

"We woke up to lifeless bodies. What is the fault of these children? What did we do for this to happen to us?"

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military requested precise timeframes and coordinates to look into the civil defence figures, but said it could check one incident in which the rescue agency reported four killed by Israeli gunfire near an aid point in the centre of the territory.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

- Evacuation 'incomprehensible' -

The military last week declared Gaza City a "dangerous combat zone", while a spokesman said the evacuation of the population hub was "inevitable".

The International Committee of the Red Cross has warned any Israeli attempt to evacuate the city would be impossible to do in a safe and dignified manner.

The dire state of shelter, healthcare and nutrition in Gaza meant evacuation was "not only unfeasible but incomprehensible under the present circumstances," ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric said in a statement.

Pressure is growing on Israel to halt its offensive, which it says is aimed at eradicating Hamas and returning hostages seized by Palestinian militants in their October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war.

Belgium on Tuesday became the latest Western country to say it will recognise the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly this month, following similar announcements by Australia, Canada and France.

In a post on X, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said that "firm sanctions are being imposed against the Israeli government" and that the decision came "in view of the humanitarian tragedy" unfolding in Gaza.

Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas's 2023 attack, 47 are still being held in Gaza, including 25 the military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 63,557 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

A.Gagnon--SMC