Preparing for the Conquest of Gaza City: Tens of Thousands of Reserve Orders Will Be Sent Starting Tomorrow

Preparing for the conquest of Gaza City: The IDF will begin issuing tens of thousands of reserve duty orders starting tomorrow (Wednesday), in preparation for expanding operational activity in Gaza. The orders that will be sent will be for the beginning of September, and beyond that, orders for reservists already in service will be extended - with the extension being an additional 40 days.

Simultaneously, preliminary moves for the conquest have already begun in Gaza and there will be more in the coming days. The moves include humanitarian assessments for population evacuation and other field operations. The plans were submitted this evening to Defense Minister Israel Katz and were approved by him.

The decision to issue reserve orders comes after earlier this evening the Defense Minister held a discussion to approve attack plans in Gaza. The discussion included the Chief of Staff, Major General Eyal Zamir, Deputy Chief of Staff, Major General Tamir Yadai, Head of Operations Division, Head of Military Intelligence, Head of Planning Division, Head of Operations, Shin Bet representatives and other senior officials in the security establishment.

As recalled, last night Katz participated in a senior command staff conference of the IDF's Gaza Division, where he said that "there is enormous importance in achieving the war objectives as they were defined in the Gaza Strip. The focus on Gaza City stems from it being a military, governmental and symbolic center of gravity. That's where the leadership is located and where the central infrastructures of the military wing remain. Hamas is also aware that this is the core of its rule now. The decisive battle for Gaza City will bring about Hamas's submission."

"At this point in time, given the entire situation as it is, Gaza's weight is much more significant than it was at the beginning of the war, and its decisive battle in the course of action that will be formulated is much more significant. The one who knows this is Hamas," he added. "We see that Hamas, for the first time, after weeks when it wasn't willing to discuss any deal for releasing hostages at all, despite the fact that even Turkey had already approached it and Qatar had approached it, suddenly it's on the table. The reason is clear: only their fear that we seriously intend to conquer Gaza - faced with this alternative, they are willing to discuss."