IDF mass call-up signals push into Gaza City as Netanyahu warns war is entering a decisive stage

Israel’s top leadership vowed on Tuesday that the war in Gaza would continue until Hamas is completely defeated, as tens of thousands of reservists were mobilised ahead of a long-anticipated assault on Gaza City. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the conflict had reached its “decisive stage,” while IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir promised troops that operations would intensify and expand until Hamas has no ground left to hold.

“We will not stop the war until we defeat this enemy,” Zamir told reservists at Nachshonim base in central Israel. “Wherever we locate them, whether senior or junior, we strike them all, all the time.” He said Israeli units had already begun manoeuvres into areas they had never previously entered, operating “with courage, strength, valour, and an extraordinary spirit.”

Netanyahu, in a separate address, said Israel was “moving toward total victory,” telling soldiers that “what began in Gaza must end in Gaza. Now we stand before the decisive stage. I believe in you, I trust you, and the entire nation embraces you.” His remarks echoed his repeated assurances since the October 2023 Hamas attacks that the war would end only with Hamas’s destruction.

The mobilisation of tens of thousands of additional reservists marks one of the largest call-ups of the war so far. Yet reports suggest that turnout among soldiers has dropped compared with earlier stages of the conflict, reflecting the strain of a campaign that is about to enter its twenty-third month.

The IDF has urged civilians to evacuate Gaza City ahead of the offensive. Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee appealed to residents to move south to the designated humanitarian area of al-Mawasi, promising improved access to food, water and medical care. He warned that anyone approaching combat zones would be putting their lives at risk. Despite weeks of warnings, however, only about 10,000 of Gaza City’s roughly one million residents and displaced people have fled south, leaving most of the civilian population trapped inside the battle zone.

Meanwhile, the IDF reported targeted killings of senior Hamas operatives. These included Ahmad Abu Daf, deputy company commander of Hamas’s Zeitoun Battalion, who was accused of directing multiple ambushes, and Taleb Sidqi Taleb Abu Atiwi, a Nukhba force commander who had taken part in the October 7 massacre in southern Israel. The military also said it had eliminated a militant who had held Israeli hostages, later released during a ceasefire earlier this year. Air strikes were launched against meeting sites for Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives in Shejaiya and Zeitoun, the IDF confirmed.

Hamas-run authorities in Gaza reported that at least 82 people were killed in strikes across the Strip on Tuesday, including 11 at a water distribution site in al-Mawasi, among them seven children. Israel said it was not aware of such a strike. Other reported deaths occurred near aid distribution points in southern Gaza, while health officials claimed a further 13 people, including three children, had died of malnutrition in the past 24 hours. Gaza’s health ministry says more than 62,000 people have been killed or are missing since the conflict began, though the numbers cannot be independently verified and do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Israeli officials estimate that more than 22,000 Hamas fighters have been killed in combat since the start of the war, alongside 1,600 militants killed inside Israel during the October 7 attack. Israel has lost 460 soldiers in its ground offensive in Gaza and in operations along the border.

The economic burden is also mounting. According to reports, the Gaza City operation could cost as much as NIS 25 billion ($7.4 billion), a figure that may necessitate cuts across other ministries. Ministers have been warned that the operation could endanger hostages still held in Gaza. Hamas claims to be holding 48 hostages, including around 20 believed alive, and recently signalled it would release ten in exchange for a ceasefire. Israel has not responded publicly to the proposal.

For now, the government and military remain focused on what they describe as the most decisive campaign of the war, framing the conquest of Gaza City as the key step toward ending Hamas rule once and for all.