Sawt Falasteen - Israel builds up forces ahead of Gaza City offensive

Despite mounting pressure at home and abroad to end its campaign in the Palestinian territory, Israel is gearing up to seize Gaza's largest city -- intensifying bombardments and operating in the outskirts in recent days.

The United Nations estimates that nearly a million people live in Gaza City and its surroundings, where a famine has been declared.

In a statement, the military said it had been preparing in recent days "ahead of expanded combat operations and the large-scale mobilisation of reservists".

Speaking at an event in Jerusalem, Defence Minister Israel Katz said: "Tens of thousands of reservists have left their homes, families and jobs to once again answer the national call -- the return of all hostages and the neutralisation of Hamas."

Approving the military's plans for the conquest of Gaza City in late August, Katz said he had authorised the call-up of about 60,000 reservists.

Israeli media reported that some 40,000 reservists were being called up in the first mobilisation wave.

On the ground in Gaza City, weary Palestinians told AFP they felt helpless and desperate ahead of the looming offensive.

"There is no place for us to go, and no means to get there. We are exhausted physically and mentally from displacement and from the war," 60-year-old Amal Abdel-Aal, who lives in a tent in western Gaza City, told AFP by telephone.

"We have come to wish for death."

- 'Completely overcrowded' -

In a post on X on Tuesday, the military's Arabic-language spokesman warned Gazans of the upcoming "expansion of combat operations towards Gaza City".

"We wish to remind you that in Al-Mawasi enhanced services will be provided, with an emphasis on access to medical care, water and food," Avichay Adraee said, referring to an area in the south which Israel designated a humanitarian zone in the early months of the war but which has been hit by repeated strikes.

In mid-August, UN human rights office spokesman Thameen al-Kheetan said Palestinians in Al-Mawasi had "little or no access to essential services and supplies, including food, water, electricity and tents".

Khalil al-Madhoun, 37, who lives in a partially destroyed apartment in western Gaza City said he had travelled twice to the south looking for somewhere to pitch a tent but found no space.

"The centre and the south are completely overcrowded," he told AFP by telephone.

Most of Gaza's population of more than two million people has been displaced at least once during the war.

The military last week declared Gaza City a "dangerous combat zone", while Adraee said the evacuation of the population hub was "inevitable".

The International Committee of the Red Cross has warned any Israeli attempt to evacuate the city would be impossible to do in a safe and dignified manner.

- Growing pressure -

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 56 people on Tuesday, including 10 in an air strike on a residential building in the southwest of Gaza City.

AFP footage from the aftermath of the strike in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood showed Palestinians carrying a dead girl from the rubble of the top floor.

"We were sleeping safely in our homes and suddenly we woke up to the sound of bombing and destruction and found most of our neighbours murdered and injured," said Sanaa al-Dreimli.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military requested precise timeframes and coordinates to look into the reports.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

Pressure is growing on Israel to halt its offensive, which it says is aimed at eradicating Hamas and freeing hostages seized in its October 2023 attack that sparked the war.

Belgium on Tuesday became the latest Western country to say it will recognise the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly this month, following similar announcements by Australia, Canada and France.

Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Of the 251 hostages seized during the assault, 47 are still being held in Gaza, including 25 the military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 63,633 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

T.Ibrahim--SF-PST