The following disturbing yet not unexpected news of the launch of Israelâs âfinal solutionâ for those families, people of all ages still trying to survive in Palestine whom they havenât yet starved, driven out of their homes and native land or slaughtered, was published by The Telergraph this evening.
The IDF has called up 60,000 reservists as war continues amid flailing ceasefire talks
By Melanie Swan | Tel Aviv ⢠20 August 2025 7:02pm BST
Benjamin Netanyahu said his plan to expand military action in the war-torn enclave was the âbest way to end the warâ Credit: ATEF SAFADI/EPA/Shutterstock
Israel entered the first stages of its invasion of Gaza City on Wednesday, the Israeli military spokesman said.
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers have taken control of the outskirts of the city, one of Hamasâs last strongholds, spokesman Brig Gen Effie Defrin said.
Following a clash with Hamas south of Khan Younis in Gaza on Wednesday, he said:âWe will deepen the blows to Hamas in Gaza City, a terror stronghold⌠We will deepen the blows to the terror infrastructure above and below ground, and disconnect the reliance of the population on Hamas.â
He said the IDF âis not waitingâ and preliminary operations are under way in the area, with Hamas now âbattered and bruisedâ.
âWe have begun the preliminary operations and the first stages of the attack on Gaza City, and already now IDF forces are holding the outskirts of Gaza City,â he said.
Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the army to âshorten the timelines for seizing the last terror strongholds and for the defeat of Hamas,â he said in a statement. It did not specify the new timelines.
Last week, the Israeli prime minister said his plan to expand military action in the wartorn enclave was the âbest way to end the warâ. He insisted Israel had âno choiceâ but to âfinish the jobâ and âdefeatâ Hamas in its last two strongholds: Gaza City and the camps in the al-Mawasi area along the coast.
He compared invading Gaza City to Israelâs military operations in Rafah last year, when more than a million civilians were evacuated from the border town.
The army has called up 60,000 reservists as the Gaza war looks set to continue amid flailing ceasefire talks.A Palestinian woman was trapped under the rubble of a house, which was hit in an Israeli strike. She was rescued after this picture was taken Credit: Stringer/Reuters
The renewed offensive comes as the army called up 60,000 reservists as the Gaza war looks set to continue amid flailing ceasefire talks.
World leaders have strongly condemned the Israeli security cabinetâs decision to send forces into the city because of the potential to worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian situation for the Gazan people.
But Israel Katz, the Israeli defence minister, rejected the criticism and said on Wednesday that plans had been approved to push into the city, which would include extending the service of an additional 20,000 reservists currently serving.
âWe now call on our heroic soldiers in the reserves, permanent and regular ranks, to stand up in order to bring about the release of the hostages, the subjugation of Hamas, and the end of the war on the terms set by Israel,â said Mr Katz.
âI instruct you to use all tools and all power to strike the enemy until it is subdued, and to protect IDF soldiers. This is the supreme consideration, and anyone who has any complaints should contact me.â
Palestinians run for cover during an Israeli strike on Wednesday Credit: Bashar Taleb/AFP
Israeli troops clashed on Wednesday with more than 15 Hamas terrorists who emerged from tunnel shafts and attacked with gunfire and anti-tank missiles near Khan Younis, south of Gaza City, severely wounding one soldier and lightly wounding two others, an Israeli military official said.
Hamasâs Al-Qassam Brigades confirmed carrying out a raid on Israeli troops south-east of Khan Younis and engaging Israeli troops at point-blank range. It said one fighter blew himself up among the soldiers, causing casualties, during an attack that lasted several hours.
Hamas agreed on Monday to a 60-day ceasefire in return for releasing around half of the hostages it took in its raid on Israel on Oct 7. Israelâs government spokesman hinted that it would reject the proposal, saying it was not interested in âpartial dealsâ.
The new plan to invade Gaza City will look to further pile pressure on Hamas to bend towards Israelâs demands, but recruiting so many reservists after nearly two years of war could be difficult.
One mental health counsellor for the soldiers told The Telegraph: âThese guys are exhausted â they canât fight any more. Theyâre broken.â
Many of those extending their service are already suffering from PTSD with little time to recover, said the counsellor. Some have been sent to military prisons for refusing to return to the fighting.
âWe are literally running out of soldiers and the physical and mental toll is enormous,â the counsellor added, saying that at least 16 soldiers had committed suicide this year, unable to deal with the trauma.
According to Israeli army radio, the military is preparing for a âprolonged operation of several months that will run into 2026â.
However, many in Israel have had enough of the conflict and have increased pressure on the government to end the war and bring home the hostages. Thousands of people carried out a nationwide strike earlier this week, blocking major roads and refusing to work.
The call-up came as the country approved a controversial settlement project on Wednesday that would effectively divide the occupied West Bank, a move that Palestinians and human rights groups said could destroy plans 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 as a result of US pressure during previous administrations. Petitions against the development were rejected on Aug 6.
Construction of homes could begin in around a year, with 3,500 apartments planned to expand the settlement of Maale Adumim.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israelâs far-Right finance minister, said: âThis reality finally buries the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognise and no one to recognise.
âAnyone in the world who tries today to recognise a Palestinian state will receive an answer from us on the ground.â
Israel has stepped up air strikes this week despite the mounting pressure that it end the war and alleviate the suffering of the Gaza Stripâs remaining inhabitants.
Already at least 62,064 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in the fighting, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which the United Nations considers reliable.
On Tuesday, Israel said it had killed the terrorist who kidnapped former hostage Yarden Bibas, the father of Kfir and Ariel and husband of Shiri, who were killed in Hamas captivity.
The IDF said on Tuesday that Jihad Kamal Salem Najjar died in an air strike on Aug 10. The terrorist kidnapped Mr Bibas, who was released in part of a temporary ceasefire deal in February, from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
âA small part of my closure happened today,â he said in a statement, telling security forces: âThanks to you, he will be unable to hurt anyone else.â
I will end this blog with a recommedation to watch the video below with Omer Bartov which Middle East Eye published today. Omar Bartove is a professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University. Professor Bartov is of the opinion that Iraelâs war on Gaza surpassed the threshold of genocidal intent by May 2024.
Aug 20, 2025
âMy view has become that the war goals that Israel declared -which were to destroy Hamas and to free the hostages, by the spring of 2024, turned out not to be the actual war goals,â he told Middle East Eye.
Bartov cites evidence, including statements by Israeli leaders, as well as the âpattern of operations that indicated both intent and the implementation of that intentâ.
He also believes that Israelâs destruction of homes, educational buildings, hospitals, museums and places of worship fits the definition, since these are âthe places that could make for the existence of a group: for its health, for its education, for its collective memoryâ.
The course of events after May 2024 has also reinforced Bartovâs opinion that genocide was occurring, including the forcible removal of the population of northern Gaza to the south and starving whoever is left, as part of the controversial Generalâs Plan.
This interview is part of a series conducted by MEE with international legal and Holocaust experts, exploring the question: Why do legal experts say Israelâs war on Gaza is a genocide?
