Israeli ministers on Monday agreed to intensify the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, with plans to seize more territory in the besieged Palestinian enclave and call up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers, AP reports, UNN writes.
Details
According to Israeli officials, this plan will be implemented gradually. In addition, it may mark a significant escalation of hostilities in Gaza, which resumed in mid-March after Israel and Hamas failed to agree on an extension of the 8-week truce.
On Sunday, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, said that the army is calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers. He also said that Israel will "operate in additional areas" in Gaza and will continue to strike at the infrastructure of the militants.
Israel already controls about half of Gaza, including a buffer zone along the border with Israel, as well as three corridors running east to west along the strip. This has left war-weary Palestinians on an ever-shrinking patch of land in a devastated territory, the publication notes.
Situation in the Gaza Strip
For several weeks, Israel has been trying to increase pressure on the Hamas terrorist group to encourage it to be more flexible in negotiations. In early March, Israel stopped importing humanitarian aid to Gaza. This ban continues to this day, and it has plunged the territory with a population of 2.3 million people into the worst humanitarian crisis of the war, the publication writes. Hunger has become widespread, and food shortages have led to looting, the publication indicates.
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On March 18, Israel resumed strikes on the territory, as a result of which, according to the publication, more than 2,600 people have died in recent weeks, many of whom, according to local health officials, are women and children.
The previous ceasefire was supposed to lead the parties to negotiations to end the war, but this ultimate goal has repeatedly become a stumbling block in negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Israel says it will not agree to end the war until Hamas is defeated. Hamas, meanwhile, is demanding an agreement that will end the war.
How the conflict started
The war in the Gaza Strip began when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Israel says 59 hostages remain in Gaza, although about 35 are believed to be dead.
According to Palestinian health officials, who do not distinguish between combatants and civilians, more than 52,000 people have been killed in Israel's offensive in Gaza, many of whom are women and children.
The fighting has displaced more than 90% of Gaza's population, often repeatedly, and has made the enclave, as the publication writes, uninhabitable.
Addition
Negotiations on a ceasefire in Gaza, which took place in Cairo, are on the verge of a "significant breakthrough", Reuters reported in late April, citing "two sources in Egyptian security services." It is noted that there is a consensus on a long-term ceasefire in the enclave, while some contentious issues remain.