Israel has said it has begun the first stages of its takeover of Gaza City – as the UK condemned the approval of plans for a new West Bank settlement.
Brigadier General Effie Defrin, Israel’s military spokesperson, said on Wednesday that “IDF forces are holding the outskirts of Gaza City” after preliminary operations to take the entire area.
An estimated 60,000 reserve soldiers have also been called up to help seize Gaza’s biggest urban centre, but will not report for duty until September, according to a military official.
Israeli troops are already operating in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, and the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet approved the plans last month, which include an eventual full security takeover of all of Gaza, despite growing international criticism that it will likely lead to the displacement of many more Palestinians.
He is said to have sped up the timeline for taking control of Hamas strongholds after both sides clashed near Khan Younis, south of Gaza City, on Wednesday.
Israel claims it will help any civilians evacuate before any assault begins.
Ceasefire proposal being considered
Israeli officials said they are also considering a new ceasefire proposal put forward by Qatar and Egypt.
The deal, which involves a 60-day ceasefire and the release of some of the remaining Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, has already been accepted by Hamas.
Thousands of Israeli civilians have called for the government to accept a ceasefire and reverse its decision to take over Gaza City, but Mr Netanyahu is thought to be under pressure from some far-right members of his coalition to reject the deal and continue to pursue the annexation of the territory.
West Bank settlement plan approved
One of those is Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, who announced on Wednesday that a controversial plan for a settlement project in the occupied West Bank had been approved after they received the final go-ahead from Israel’s higher planning committee.
Mr Smotrich, an ultranationalist in the ruling right-wing coalition, said in a statement that the government was delivering with the settlement what it had promised for years: “The Palestinian state is being erased from the table, not with slogans but with actions.”
He said last week that the settlement would “finally bury the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognise and no one to recognise”.
‘A stake through the heart of two-state solution’
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned the plan, saying it “would divide a Palestinian state in two”.
In a post on the X social media platform, Mr Lammy called the settlement in the West Bank “a flagrant breach of international law”, which “critically undermines the two-state solution”, and urged the Israeli government to reverse the decision.
The UN also condemned the decision, with spokesperson Stephane Dujarric saying that it “will drive a stake through the heart of the two-state solution”.
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Where is the settlement?
The settlement is set to be built in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, and includes around 3,500 apartments to expand the existing settlement of Maale Adumim.
E1 has been eyed for Israeli development for more than two decades, but plans were halted due to pressure from the US during previous administrations.
A two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict would see a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza existing side by side with Israel.
Today, an estimated 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. There is also a growing movement of Israelis wanting to build settlements in Gaza.
Settlers make up around 5% of Israel’s population and 15% of the West Bank’s population, according to data from Peace Now.
Settlements are illegal under international law and have been condemned by the UN. They are, however, authorised by the Israeli government.
