The Israeli military said Wednesday it has approved the “framework” for a new offensive in the Gaza Strip, days after the security cabinet ordered the seizure of Gaza City.
Armed forces chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir signed off on the operational plan, though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has not given a timetable for troops to move into the territory’s largest city, now sheltering thousands displaced by earlier fighting.
Gaza’s civil defence agency reported intensified Israeli air strikes on the Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods, hitting civilian homes and possibly high-rise buildings. The announcement came hours after Hamas confirmed a senior delegation was in Cairo for preliminary truce talks with Egyptian officials.
Plans to expand the 22-month war have drawn global criticism and domestic pushback, with UN-backed experts warning of famine as Israel severely restricts humanitarian aid. The conflict began after Hamas’s October 2023 attack that killed 1,219 people, according to Israeli figures; Gaza’s health ministry says at least 61,599 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive, figures the UN deems reliable.
