Gaza City offensive to commence in mid-September, hostage-ceasefire talks to resume next week — report

Israel is expected to launch its new offensive on Gaza City in mid-September, some two weeks after newly called-up reservists are set to report for duty on September 2, Channel 12 reports.

Some one million Palestinians currently in Gaza City will be called upon to evacuate as soon as Sunday, the network says.

According to the report, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the political echelon are pushing to speed up the launch of the operation, while the military wants to first take steps to safeguard the hostages and the troops, and also evacuate the Palestinians from Gaza City and ensure there is international legitimacy for the operation.

The network cites Israeli officials as saying it is urgent to get out the hostages as soon as possible due to their dire condition. Sources cited by the outlet say that there are currently no substantive disagreements between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire-hostage deal, but “it all depends on Netanyahu.”

“There are no magic solutions,” the sources were quoted as saying. “If [we] want to bring back the hostages [we] can do that now.”

The terror group recently said it accepted a partial hostage deal that Israel had agreed to in the past, while Netanyahu has vowed to push on in Gaza City and to negotiate only for a deal that would release all the hostages. A source cited by Channel 12 says a partial deal was never on the table, and that Israel has only sought a comprehensive deal in two phases.

Despite the apparent impasse in the ceasefire talks, Israel is expected to send negotiators to renewed ceasefire-hostage talks in the coming days, Channel 12 reports, adding that talks have already begun on setting the time and place for the negotiations, which have stalled since Israel and the US recalled their negotiators from Doha last month.

The network says it is unclear where the renewed talks will take place, and that they will commence in a location other than Doha or Cairo, where they have taken place until now.

Israel reportedly assesses that the impending operation in Gaza City is placing great pressure on Hamas, possibly leading to greater flexibility in the talks.

According to the network, Netanyahu seeks to drive that point home by renaming the operation “Iron Fist,” rather than the name “Gideon’s Chariots 2” that has been used until now, following the original Operation Gideon’s Chariots that was launched in May.

Sources present in Netanyahu’s consultations say he has been using the name Operation Iron Fist over the past couple of days, Channel 12 says.