Thousands of Israeli reservists report for duty as military chief clashes with ministers

Tens of thousands of reservists began to report for duty on Tuesday for a new Israeli offensive to seize Gaza City, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to accelerate despite warnings from senior ranks.

Israeli Army Radio said 40,000 reservists would report for duty on Tuesday.

Israel’s security cabinet, chaired by Netanyahu, approved a plan last month to expand the nearly two-year-old military campaign in Gaza to take control of Gaza City, which Israeli forces stormed early in the war and waged fierce urban warfare with Hamas. Israel currently holds about 75% of the Gaza Strip.

A security cabinet meeting late on Sunday included angry exchanges between Netanyahu and his ministers, who want to expedite the offensive, and armed forces chief Eyal Zamir, who has urged the politicians to reach a ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Zamir said a military thrust into Gaza City would endanger hostages and further strain the already overstretched army, according to four ministers and two military officials present at the meeting.

Zamir has clashed with the cabinet before. Netanyahu said on August 20 that he had ordered a faster push to take Gaza City, but the next day the military said hostages could be endangered, and that any offensive could not begin for two months, according to a source in Netanyahu's circle and a defence official.

The military said more time was needed for aid to civilians in Gaza, where starvation has spread. But surveys have also shown many reservists are unhappy with the cabinet's plans, some openly accusing the government of lacking a cohesive strategy, a post-war plan for Gaza or a clear benchmark for victory.

Though Zamir has publicly questioned the wisdom of a new offensive, he told reservists at one military base on Tuesday that the army was prepared for nothing less than "decisive victory" and would not stop the war until then.

"We are preparing for the continuation of the war; we are going to increase and enhance the strikes of our operation, and that is why we called you," he said.

"We have already begun the ground operation in Gaza - make no mistake," Zamir said. "We are already entering places we have never entered before..."

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but has stated that its forces are fighting militants on the outskirts of Gaza City, destroying tunnels and militant infrastructure and seizing weapons.