Israel has announced an escalation of its military operations in Gaza City, as the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, condemned the approval of a vast new settlement in the West Bank as a “flagrant breach of international law.”
What Israel Defence Forces spokesperson said
An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson, Effie Defrin, said the military had entered the second phase of Operation Gideon’s Chariots, launched in May, and would intensify strikes on Hamas in Gaza City, describing it as a “stronghold of regime and military terror.”
The announcement coincided with a statement from the office of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who ordered an acceleration of plans for a long-threatened offensive to seize control of Gaza City, home to hundreds of thousands of residents.
“Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed that the timetables for seizing control of the last terrorist strongholds and the defeat of Hamas be shortened,” the statement said.
Hamas condemned the move, calling it a “blatant disregard” for international mediation efforts aimed at securing a ceasefire and hostage exchange. The group said the assault on Gaza City, where nearly one million residents and displaced people live, would cause catastrophic consequences.
Israeli officials have already deployed troops on the outskirts of the city and in the Zeitoun neighbourhood. Earlier on Wednesday, Israel confirmed it had called up an additional 60,000 reservists to prepare for the offensive. The new phase was partly justified by a recent attack in which 18 Hamas fighters struck an Israeli position, described by the IDF as “large-scale” despite its limited size.
The looming offensive has prompted thousands of Palestinians to flee Gaza City amid worsening conditions of starvation. Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, said Israel’s actions had caused “massacres and starvation” and were “killing all prospects” for peace.
French president Emmanuel Macron warned the operation risked a “true disaster” and could drag the region into permanent conflict. A German government spokesperson, Steffen Meyer, said it was “increasingly difficult to understand how these actions will lead to the freeing of all the hostages, or to a ceasefire.”
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz confirmed he had approved the plan to conquer Gaza City, despite Hamas and other Palestinian factions in Gaza having agreed earlier this week to a ceasefire proposal closely aligned with terms Israel had previously accepted. Israel has yet to formally respond.
Alongside the military announcement, Israel confirmed the approval of a major new settlement project in the West Bank. The development would effectively cut the territory in two, a move far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said was intended to end any possibility of a future Palestinian state.
In response, Lammy wrote on X that the plan “would divide a Palestinian state in two, mark a flagrant breach of international law and critically undermine the two-state solution.”
