Israel recalls tens of thousands of reservists

Israel has recalled tens of thousands of reservists in anticipation of expanding its offensive against Hamas in Gaza, Israeli media reported Saturday.

When questioned by AFP, the Israeli army neither confirmed nor denied these reports as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under pressure from his far-right supporters without whom he would lose his majority, continues to make warmongering statements.

On Saturday night, he criticized Qatar, an emirate leading mediation efforts for a truce with Hamas and a deal to release hostages held in the Gaza Strip, urging it to "stop its double game and double language."

"Israel will win this legitimate war with legitimate means," he added, seemingly signaling the end of any negotiations.

Qatar "strongly rejects the inflammatory statements" by Netanyahu "which are contrary to the most basic rules of political and moral responsibility," Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari responded on X.

Since Israel ended a two-month truce in the war launched by the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, on March 18, Netanyahu insists that increased military pressure is the only way to force the Palestinian movement to release the hostages.

In contrast, "any escalation of the fighting will place the hostages ... in immediate danger," warned the hostages' family forum, an Israeli organization of the captives' relatives.

'Moral priority'

"For the vast majority of Israelis, the return of the hostages is the nation's top moral priority," the forum added in a statement, still considering it possible to "reach an agreement to save lives and prevent further human losses."

The truce allowed 33 Israeli hostages to return, eight of whom were deceased, in exchange for the release of approximately 1,800 Palestinians detained by Israel. 

Since March 18, Israeli bombings on the Gaza Strip have been daily, and the army has regained control of large parts of the territory it had evacuated. 

After improving during the truce, the humanitarian situation of the approximately 2.4 million Palestinians is once again catastrophic.

According to Israeli media military correspondents, the army has begun sending mobilization orders to reservists, planning to recall tens of thousands to expand its offensive.

These reservists are expected to replace conscripts or active soldiers across the country as well as in the occupied West Bank so that they can be sent to fight in Gaza.

Relatives of AFP journalists have already received their "Tsav 8" (mobilization order).

'Number 24'

According to public television, the Israeli security cabinet is set to meet on Sunday to approve expanding the offensive in Gaza.

The Hamas commando attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, resulted in the death of 1,218 Israelis, most of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official figures.

Of the 251 people abducted that day, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 declared deceased by the Israeli army.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007, and has launched a military retaliation campaign that has devastated the Gaza Strip and killed at least 52,495 people, mostly civilians, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry figures deemed reliable by the U.N.

The news about recalling reservists came after Hamas's armed wing released a video featuring a man lying down, with his head and left arm covered in bandages with brown stains.

Speaking in Hebrew, he introduces himself as "prisoner number 24" but was identified as Maxim Herkin, an Israeli-Russian hostage who will be 37 by the end of May. His family has issued a statement asking the media not to broadcast the video.

Unarmed

Saturday night, a few thousand Israelis gathered once again in Tel Aviv.

"We want the hostages to come home [and] we no longer believe that the war in Gaza has any justification," said Arona Maskil, a 64-year-old consultant, to AFP.

Before dawn, 11 Palestinians, including three young children, were killed in an Israeli strike on the Khan Younis refugee camp in southern Gaza, according to rescue services. The army confirmed, stating it targeted "a Hamas terrorist."

In torchlight, rescuers and civilians searched through the rubble with their bare hands to extract victims, according to AFP images. One person walked away carrying the lifeless body of a very young child.

Israel has subjected the Gaza Strip to a total blockade since March 2. In the absence of any humanitarian aid entering since that date, U.N. and NGO officials have been multiplying warnings about the risk of famine.