Israel’s Operation to Take Control of Gaza City Looms. Where Does It Stand?

The Israeli military is widening its offensive in the Gaza Strip, even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weighs a new cease-fire proposal that would bring it to a halt.

Israeli officials say that ground forces are already operating in Zeitoun, a neighborhood in the southern part of the city. The possibility of Israeli soldiers moving into other neighborhoods in Gaza City has raised alarm among Palestinians who have been repeatedly displaced since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that ignited the war.

Some people have said they would follow Israeli evacuation orders, while others have said they will remain in their homes, even if doing so would risk their lives. On Thursday, scores of Palestinians participated in a protest in Gaza City, demanding an end to the war.

The decision to move forward with the operation was approved by Mr. Netanyahu’s government in early August against the advice of the military’s high command, which has expressed concern about the exhaustion of reservist soldiers and the possibility of endangering hostages still held in Gaza.

Why does Israel want to control Gaza City?

Mr. Netanyahu said in interviews earlier this month that an expanded operation would ensure Israel’s security, drive Hamas from power and enable the return of hostages.

His office said that the security cabinet had adopted “five principles for concluding the war,” including disarming Hamas, bringing back the hostages, demilitarizing Gaza, establishing Israeli security control over the enclave and setting up “an alternative civilian administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.”

The announcement by his office seemed to stop short of saying Israel would take full control of the Gaza Strip, which Mr. Netanyahu earlier said was his plan, at least temporarily.

After nearly two years of war, the Israeli military says it controls about 75 percent of Gaza.

The main part outside its control is a coastal strip stretching from Gaza City in the north to Khan Younis in the south. Many of the two million Palestinians in Gaza have squeezed into tents, makeshift shelters and apartments in that stretch of land.

In recent days, Israeli troops began operating in the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City, while other forces were active on the outskirts of the city, according to the Israeli military.

Mr. Netanyahu’s office has said the military would prepare to take control of Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the fighting zones.

What would it mean for civilians?

For civilians in Gaza, the possibility of an escalated operation has raised fears that many more of them could be killed and that living conditionscould get even worse.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is devastating, with many people struggling to find food, clean water, and electricity. Many Gazans have been displaced more than once since the war began, and more than 60,000 have been killed, according to the local health authorities, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Some Palestinians in Gaza City have said they refuse to be displaced again.

“We’ve had enough, we’re not going anywhere,” said Hassan Shehada, a 62-year-old textile factory owner. “We’re so tired and we can’t take it anymore.”

How long would it take?

Even though Israeli troops are already operating in Zeitoun, it could be weeks before the military launches a broader assault.

To take over Gaza City, the military needs more soldiers. On Wednesday, it called up 60,000 reservists and announced plans to extend the duty of 20,000 others.

Yet the additional reservists were set to report for duty only in September, according to two Israeli military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational plans. On Wednesday, however, Mr. Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister had ordered the military to shorten its timeline.

The military believes it could seize the remaining parts of Gaza within months.

Who would govern?

Mr. Netanyahu said earlier this month that Israel did not want permanent authority over Gaza. “We don’t want to keep it,” he said. “We don’t want to be there as a governing body. We want to hand it over to Arab forces.”

Arab states could agree to participate in an international force, possibly handling security and administration, perhaps with foreign peacekeepers or contractors. But they would most likely want approval from, and a role for, the Palestinian Authority, which currently administers part of the West Bank and governed in parts of Gaza before Hamas came to power in 2007.

Israel’s security cabinet has insisted that the Palestinian Authority be excluded from any civilian government.

What will Hamas do?

After Israel announced its decision to take over Gaza City earlier this month, Hamas said that occupying the city and evacuating its residents would constitute “a new war crime.”

The militant group did not say in detail how it would respond. But Hamas has resisted calls to surrender throughout the war, and despite heavy losses among its leadership, it has continued to recruit new fighters.

Who has objected?

The Israeli military’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, is among those who have pushed back against Mr. Netanyahu’s plan, according to Israeli security officials. He expressed concern that expanded operations would further endanger the remaining hostages in Gaza, about 20 of whom are believed to still be alive, that it would put more strain on already-exhausted resources and troops, and make the armed forces responsible for governing two million Palestinians, the officials said.

At a U.N. Security Council meeting earlier this month, Miroslav Jenca, the U.N.’s assistant secretary-general for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, said expanded military operations “would risk catastrophic consequences for millions of Palestinians and could further endanger the lives of the remaining hostages.”

Natan Odenheimer and Adam Rasgon contributed reporting.