A cameraman working for ITV News in Gaza was one of the first on the scene of an Israeli airstrike near his home on Tuesday night. His harrowing footage is a vivid illustration of the impact of the bombardment, as ITV News International Correspondent John Irvine reports
Israel’s military has said it is calling up 60,000 reservists ahead of an expanded military operation in Gaza City.
Calling up extra military reservists is part a plan to begin a new phase of operations in some of Gaza’s most densely populated areas, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) said.
The plan, which is expected to receive the chief of staff’s final approval in the coming days, also includes extending the service of 20,000 additional reservists who are already on active duty.
It comes as negotiators scramble to get Israel and Hamas to agree a ceasefire and amid warnings that an expanded assault would deepen the crisis in the Gaza Strip, where the widely-displaced population faces the threat of famine.
Israeli troops in the the city’s Zeitoun neighborhood and in Jabaliya, a refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, are already preparing the groundwork for the expanded operation, which could begin within days.
Though the timeline wasn’t clear, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday that had ordered the “reduction of the timetables for taking over the last ettrorist strongholds and defeating Hamas”.
Netanyahu said earlier this month that the objective was to secure the release of the remaining hostages and ensure Hamas and other militants never threaten Israel again.
The planned offensive has sparked international outrage and fuelled fears of another mass displacement among Palestinians.
Palestinians have said there is nowhere to flee after 22 months of war that has killed tens of thousands of people and destroyed much of the territory.
Qatar, which has become a key mediator between Israel and Palestine, said a ceasefire was needed urgently.
It said Hamas had shown a “positive response” to a proposal from Arab countries, but that Israel had not yet responded and its position remained unclear, as members of Netanyahu’s coalition opposed a deal that did not “complete the defeat of Hamas”.
The proposed deal would include a 60-day truce, the release of some Hamas-held hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and more aid into Gaza.
The latest proposal has been modified slightly since an earlier one put forward by the United States, which Israel had accepted.
The Palestinian death toll passed 62,000 on Monday, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government.
The ministry did not say how many were civilians or combatants, but said about half were women and children.
It also said 154 adults had died of malnutrition-related causes since late June, when it started counting those deaths.
At least 112 children have died of malnutrition-related causes since the war began.
Hamas has said it would only free the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
On Sunday, one of Israel’s largest protests against the war erupted in Jerusalem.
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets and protested outside politicians’ homes and military headquarters, calling for a deal to free hostages in Gaza.
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