Israeli media is reporting that around 60,000 Israeli reservists are set to receive call-up orders on Wednesday as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) gear up for a major assault on Gaza City.
A report in Times of Israel notes that reservists will have up to two weeks before going to their duty stations, but not all will be directly involved in the Gaza City offensive, as some are needed replace Israeli forces currently stationed in other parts of Gaza.
The controversial Netanyahu-ordered expanded offensive which aims to achieve total control of Gaza City is expected to displace over a million Palestinian civilians.
The IDF is prepared to use artillery to forcibly remove them, and a ramped-up air campaign has already been underway. Arab media sources, including Al Jazeera, have said that areas with a lot of tent shelters for refugees have at times been directly struck.
Israel’s military has issued evacuation orders, and is framing this as simply a mass transfer, while the Palestinian side along with international human rights monitors have decried an ethnic cleansing and land grab in progress.
Reports in Israeli media have further described that after capturing the city, the IDF plans to spend over a year systematically demolishing it, which is precisely what previously happened in Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia, and Jabalia.
The ostensible justification is for removal of “Hamas infrastructure” – but critics have said it is ultimately to pave the way for Jewish settlement of the Gaza Strip.
The question remains, where will these Gazans go? Israel has been seeking to pressure some regional and even north African countries to take them in.
To be expected, these conversations have gone nowhere especially as regional Arab states have already historically absorbed hundreds of thousands. For example, the majority of the population of Jordan actually has Palestinian roots.
Just life Rafah…
“Gaza, Gaza City itself, should look just like Rafah, which we turned into a pile of rubble.”
Speaking on Channel 14, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen of the Likud party called for the total destruction of Gaza City. pic.twitter.com/CNBbDhNXHS
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) August 20, 2025
The Trump administration has meanwhile appeared to greenlight the takeover plans, in a break from Europe – which has grown much more critical of Israeli policy and loud over the last months.
Some EU states like Denmark are even mulling sanctions on Israel, and several major US allies are set to recognize the state of Palestine at the upcoming UN General Assembly meeting in September.
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