November 10, 2025
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel began mobilizing tens of thousands of reservists on Tuesday as part of its plan to widen its offensive in Gaza City, which has sparked opposition domestically and condemnation abroad.
The beginning of September call-up, announced last month, comes as ground and air forces press forward and pursue more targets in northern and central Gaza, striking parts of Zeitoun and Shijaiyah — two western Gaza City neighborhoods that Israeli forces have repeatedly invaded during the 23-month war against Hamas terrorists.
Zeitoun, once Gaza City’s largest neighborhood with markets, schools, and clinics, has been transformed over the past month, with streets being emptied and buildings reduced to rubble as it becomes what Israel's military last week called a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gaza City is Hamas’ political and military stronghold and, according to Israel, still home to a vast tunnel network despite multiple incursions throughout the war. It is also one of the last refuges in the northern strip, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are sheltering, facing twin threats of combat and famine.
At least 60,000 reservists will be gradually called up, Israel's military said last month. It will also extend the service of an additional 20,000 reservists already serving.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the war will continue until all the hostages are returned and Hamas surrenders.
“We are facing the decisive stage,” Netanyahu said in a video statement addressed to the troops. "With God’s help, together we will win.”
In Israel, a nation of under 10 million, most Jewish men complete compulsory military service and remain in the reserves for at least a decade.
A total of 63,557 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to claims by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, which says another 160,660 people have been wounded. The ministry doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. Israel disputes these figures, but hasn't provided its own toll.
The war started with an attack on Oct. 7, 2023, on southern Israel in which Hamas-led terrorists killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people. Forty-eight hostages are still inside Gaza, around 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals.
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