RIGHT NOW: Israel's invasion begins - enters Gaza City

 

Gaza

Israel has begun the invasion of Gaza City.

Oskar Forsberg

Updated 19.55 | Published 18.32

This is reported by the Reuters news agency.

The Israeli army IDF has started the first phase of the invasion of Gaza City. A military operation that has been planned for a long time.

This is reported by the Reuters news agency.

On Wednesday, the country's Defense Minister  Israel Katz is said to have approved plans to take control of Gaza.

 

Israeli tanks near Gaza on Wednesday. Photo: Maya Levin / AP

Already controlling areas

According to the IDF spokesperson, Brigadier General Effie Defrin, the first phase of the attack has now begun.

He tells the Jerusalem Post that Israeli forces already control the outskirts of the city.

60,000 soldiers have already been called up to be able to carry out the invasion.

Another 20,000 reservists will also be called up in the near future, according to Defrin.

Earlier today, an Israeli military base in Khan Younis in southern Gaza was attacked.

The Times of Israel writes that a group of at least 18 Hamas terrorists attacked the base.

Three soldiers at the base were injured, one of them seriously.

10 of the attackers were killed, the Times of israel reports.

 

Israeli forces are said to control the outskirts of the city. Photo: Maya Levin / AP

Ceasefire proposal on Monday

On Monday, Hamas sources told several news agencies that the terror-labeled group had agreed to the terms of a new ceasefire proposal in Gaza

A Palestinian source said that mediators had proposed an initial 60-day ceasefire in exchange for the hostages being released in two stages.

“It is a framework to launch negotiations on a permanent ceasefire,” the source said.

Israel has not responded to the proposal.

There are also big question marks over whether Israel could imagine such a plan. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently signaled that he is demanding that the entire hostages be released in one go.

Of the Israelis taken hostage in 2023, about 20 people are believed to still be alive in the Gaza Strip.

Macron: “Catastrophe”

French President Emmanuel Macron writes on X that the invasion will lead to “a catastrophe.”

He further writes that an invasion risks leading to a larger war in the region.

Instead, the French president, who has been in contact with the leaders of Egypt and Jordan, advocates for an “international stabilization effort'''