Israel said it has entered the opening phase of a long-planned assault on Gaza City, advancing to the city’s outskirts after overnight air-and-ground strikes. Military spokesman Effie Defrin stated that troops now control roughly three-quarters of the Gaza Strip and are preparing to encircle the enclave’s largest urban centre, a move the army describes as essential to dismantling Hamas’s remaining strongholds. Defence Minister Israel Katz has signed off on the operation, while officials said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his security cabinet were meeting on Thursday night to give final approval. About 60,000 reservists have been called up, with a further 20,000 on standby, underscoring the scale of the push even as mediators press Israel to accept a 60-day truce proposal already endorsed by Hamas. Netanyahu said he has ordered negotiators to resume talks aimed at freeing the estimated 49 hostages still held in Gaza, but pledged that any ceasefire must meet Israel’s terms and that the campaign to seize Gaza City will continue until Hamas is “defeated”. The escalation drew swift international criticism. Speaking at a development conference in Yokohama, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged an immediate ceasefire to avert the “massive death and destruction” a full-scale urban battle would bring. He also called on Israel to reverse a newly approved plan for 3,400 additional settlement homes that would bisect the occupied West Bank. According to Gaza’s health ministry, Israel’s 22-month-old campaign has killed more than 62,000 Palestinians and injured over 157,000. Israel cites about 1,200 deaths from Hamas’s 7 October 2023 cross-border attack that triggered the war. Despite mounting humanitarian concerns and diplomatic pressure, Israeli officials say the assault on Gaza City remains central to their objective of eliminating Hamas.