The IDF is sending out call-up orders for tens of thousands of reservists starting Sunday, on the road toward widening the Gaza invasion.
Also, the military said that the expansion would be in stages, signaling that it could take days or weeks before having a clearer picture of the strategy and impact of the IDF’s further invasion.
The move was approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday and is expected to be formally approved by the security cabinet on Sunday.
Despite the mass call-up, the numbers will still fall far below the call-up of hundreds of thousands of soldiers in October 2023 after the massacre.
To date, the IDF has taken control of about 40% of Gaza since it renewed its invasion on March 18, with Hamas offering close to zero resistance, other than occasional guerrilla-style ambushes of soldiers.
However, most of Hamas’s forces are projected to be hiding among close to two million civilians in humanitarian zones or in portions of central Gaza where there are suspicions of hostages being held.
Thousands take to the street in protest
This came as tens of thousands of Israelis throughout the country went out to protest on Saturday night, demanding that the Israeli government continue the hostage release deal to bring the 59 who are still held captive in the Gaza Strip back home, 575 days after Hamas’s October 7 massacre.
Among the participants at the rally at Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square were former hostages and soldiers who were wounded during the war. Among the released hostages at the rally were Omer Shem Tov, Mia Regev, and her brother Itay Regev.
“We stand here tonight at the Hostage Square – not only as people who experienced the unimaginable, but as the voice of those who cannot be here with us.” Shem Tov said. “Our siblings are there. Our siblings were left behind, waiting to be rescued from that terrible hell. The only obligation we have as a people, as a nation, is to bring them home. We owe them this independence, this freedom.”
Mia Regev said: “We cannot celebrate true independence while dozens of Israelis are denied freedom, denied a voice, denied protection, sitting terrified in these very moments.”
Her brother, Itay, said: “We returned to our normal lives, but couldn’t truly move forward and heal ourselves when a huge part of our hearts sits there waiting to be rescued. We received independence, but didn’t feel truly free. It’s difficult, almost impossible, to speak of independence when we know 59 people, our brothers and sisters, have lost all their freedom for 575 long, difficult, frightening, and endless days.”
Also in attendance at the square was Meital Weiss, daughter of captivity survivor Shiri Weiss and Ilan Weiss, Yeela David, sister of Evyatar David, who is still in captivity.
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