Tens of thousands of reservists started to report for duty on Tuesday ahead of a new Israeli offensive in Gaza City, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to speed up, despite warnings from senior ranks.
Israeli Army Radio said that some 40,000 reservists would report for duty on Tuesday for the Gaza City offensive. The military said it was readying logistically for the intake of reservists ahead of the offensive.
Israel’s security cabinet, chaired by Netanyahu, approved a plan last month to expand the campaign in Gaza with the aim of taking Gaza City, where Israeli forces waged fierce urban warfare with Hamas in the early stages of the war. Israel currently holds about 75% of the Gaza Strip.
A security cabinet meeting late on Sunday included angry exchanges between Netanyahu and his ministers, who want to push ahead with the Gaza City offensive, and military chief Eyal Zamir, who has urged the politicians to reach a ceasefire deal.
Zamir said the campaign will endanger hostages and put further strain on the already over-stretched army, according to four ministers and two military officials present at the meeting.
This follows similar exchanges between Zamir and Netanyahu's cabinet last month. Netanyahu said on August 20 that he gave the instruction to speed up the timetable for taking what he describes as Hamas' last bastion.
Zamir's concerns
But on August 21, in discussions to approve the battle plans, the military again warned against hostages being endangered and said it could not begin the campaign for at least two months, according to a source in Netanyahu's circle and a defense official.
The military's main reason was that more time was needed for humanitarian efforts. But surveys have shown a substantial proportion of reservists are unhappy with the cabinet's plans, with some having taken the unusual step of openly accusing the government of lacking a cohesive strategy for Gaza, a post-war plan for the enclave or clear victory metrics.
"I don't feel like I'm doing anything that really applies significant pressure to have Hamas release the hostages," one combat reservist who has been serving in Gaza since October 7 told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly.