The Israeli military is preparing to draft around 50,000 reservists as Defense Minister Katz approved the IDF’s plan to conquer Gaza City and the rest of the enclave.
Speaking to foreign reporters on Wednesday, an IDF official said the military will begin calling up reservists in the coming days as the army is preparing for “gradual, precise and targeted operation in and around Gaza City.”
A total of 120,000 reservist soldiers will be at the IDF’s disposal but the current conscript soldiers will be doing the majority of fighting in Gaza, spread over five divisions.
“Our forces are already operating on the outskirts of Gaza City; in Jabaliya and Zeitoun neighborhoods,” the official said.
The official added that efforts to increase humanitarian aid in Gaza are underway, including opening more distribution sites as well as moving civilians out of harms way.
On Tuesday, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activites in the Territories (COGAT), lashed out at the UN for failing to accurately report the amount of trucks with aid that enter Gaza.
“According to UN data, only 3,553 trucks entered Gaza, In reality, Israel facilitated the entry of nearly 9,200 trucks. This is a gap of almost 6,000 trucks (which is) 2.5 times the volume of aid that the UN claims actually entered,” COGAT said.
COGAT said that UN publishes its figures through a “public dashboard that claims to present a full picture of all humanitarian aid, but in practice it includes only the trucks facilitated by UN agencies and a small number of aid organizations working with them.”
“The dashboard fails to include aid delivered by other actors in the humanitarian system, including various states, additional international organizations, the private sector, airdrops, and the distribution centers of the American company.”
On Tuesday, some 400 humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings while over 350 trucks were collected and distributed by the UN and international organizations, in addition to 185 pallets of aid airdropped over the enclave, Israel said.
As Mr. Katz okayed the IDF’s plan to conquer Gaza City, dubbed Operation “Gideon’s Chariots B”, the government approved $473 million for humanitarian aid in Gaza as part of an increase in the 2025 budget.
The approval caused heated debates inside the security cabinet, according to Israeli media.
Both National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Education Minister Yoav Kisch slammed the plan ahead of the vote, with both ministers advocating for the budget to include more money for security at Israeli schools.
“At a time when the Finance Ministry wants to expand the budget for humanitarian aid, it is harming the security of our children. This is a disgrace that cannot be accepted,” Mr. Ben-Gvir said.
Mr. Kisch stressed that the security of Israel’s students “comes before all else. It is inconceivable that while humanitarian aid to Gaza is being expanded, Israel’s students will be left without protection. We demand that the Finance Ministry close the budget gap and ensure full security at every school.”
The plan was also criticised harshly by opposition lawmakers. Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beitenu party, accused the government of “stealing from the citizens and paying taxes to Hamas.”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the government’s decision to “cut the health basket means both shame is dead, and sick people will die as well. Funding could come from closing 15 superfluous ministries and canceling coalition funds for corruption and draft dodgers.”
“Instead, the worst government in Israel’s history is cutting healthcare, education, and welfare. Disgraceful,” Mr. Lapid added.
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