Israel calls up 60,000 reservists ahead of planned Gaza City offensive

[duluxe]

EPA
An Israeli military official said five divisions would be involved in the planned offensive
The Israeli military says it is calling up about 60,000 reservists ahead of a planned ground offensive to capture and occupy all of Gaza City.

A military official said the reservists would report for duty in September and that most of the troops mobilised for the offensive would be active-duty personnel.

They added that troops were already operating in the Zeitoun and Jabalia areas as part of the preparations for the plan, which Defence Minister Israel Katz approved on Tuesday and will be put to the security cabinet later this week.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City are expected to be ordered to evacuate and head to shelters in southern Gaza.

Many of Israel's allies have condemned the plan, with French President Emmanuel Macron warning on Wednesday that it "can only lead to disaster for both peoples and risks plunging the entire region into a cycle of permanent war".

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) meanwhile said further displacement and an intensification of hostilities "risk worsening an already catastrophic situation" for Gaza's 2.1 million population.

Israel's government announced its intention to conquer the entire Gaza Strip after indirect talks with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal broke down last month.

Mediators Qatar and Egypt are trying to secure an agreement before the offensive begins and have presented a new proposal for a 60-day truce and the release of around half of the 50 hostages held in Gaza, which Hamas said it had accepted on Monday.

Israel has not yet submitted a formal response, but Israeli officials insisted on Tuesday that they would no longer accept a partial deal and demanded a comprehensive one that would see all the hostages released. Only 20 of them are believed to be still alive.


The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that orders calling up 60,000 reservists were issued on Wednesday as part of the preparations for "the next phase of Operation Gideon's Chariots" - the ground offensive that it launched in May and has seen it take control of at least 75% of Gaza.

In addition, 20,000 reservists who had already been called up would receive a notice extending their current orders, it added.

The military official said senior commanders had approved the plan for what they described as a "gradual, precise and targeted operation in and around Gaza City", with troops entering some areas where they had not gone previously.

Five divisions were expected to take part in the offensive, the official added.

The Haaretz newspaper quoted Defence Minister Katz as saying on Tuesday: "Once the operation is completed, Gaza will change its face and will no longer look as it did in the past."

He also reportedly approved a plan to "accommodate" Gaza City residents in the south of the territory, including the coastal al-Mawasi area, where the military official said field hospitals would be established.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the military's objectives are to secure the release of all the hostages held by Hamas and "complete the defeat" of the Palestinian armed group.

 

[k1976]

Egypt strengthens Sinai security and mobilises forces amid rising tension with Israel​

Neighbours and former enemies are seemingly on a collision course despite peace treaty​

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Hamza Hendawi
Cairo
September 18, 2025

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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi sounded like a man who has had enough of Israel's actions when he addressed the Arab-Islamic summit in Qatar this week. He called Israel an “enemy” – the first time an Egyptian leader has done so publicly in decades – and warned the 1979 peace treaty between them would be annulled if the current situation continued.

“Don't allow the work for peace done by those before us go to waste. If you do, regret will be of no use,” he said at the summit on Monday.


Mr El Sisi has been steadily stepping up his criticism of Israel in recent months, calling it out for starving Palestinians in Gaza and describing its military operation in the Palestinian territory as genocide.

 

[k1976]

Egypt's army chief meets top military official in eastern Libya to boost security cooperation​

Meeting held at headquarters of Egypt’s Defense Ministry in Cairo​

Hussien Elkabany, Rania Abu Shamala |16.09.2025 - Update : 16.09.2025

Egyptian Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Fathi Ibrahim Khalifa

CAIRO/ISTANBUL
Egypt’s Army Chief Ahmed Khalifa met on Tuesday with Chief of Staff of Libya’s eastern forces, Khaled Haftar, to discuss strengthening military and security cooperation between the two sides.
A military statement said discussions at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense in Cairo dwelt on a host of issues of mutual concern and ways to enhance aspects of military and security cooperation between Egypt and eastern Libyan forces.

Khalifa underlined the importance “of continued coordination and unifying efforts to confront all common challenges and to support the pillars of security and stability across all Libyan territory,” the statement said.

For his part, Haftar expressed “his aspiration for further joint cooperation between Libyan and Egyptian armed forces.”

Last month, the commander of Libya’s eastern forces, Khalifa Haftar, appointed his son Khaled as Chief of Staff of his forces, replacing Lt. Gen. Abdelrazek al-Nadhouri, who was named National Security Adviser by the Libyan House of Representatives.

Khaled Haftar had previously served as Chief of Staff of the security units of the eastern forces, in addition to leading the 106th Brigade, the largest and most heavily armed unit in eastern Libya.
Libya remains divided between two rival administrations: one led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh in Tripoli, which controls the west of the country, and another appointed by the House of Representatives (parliament) in early 2022, led by Osama Hammad and based in Benghazi, which governs the east and much of the south.