Israel says it has begun mobilizing for a new Gaza advance

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said Saturday that it had begun mobilizing its forces in preparation to advance farther into the Gaza Strip, seize more land and displace more civilians, adding that it was conducting intense airstrikes before the planned offensive.

Israeli fighter jets bombarded Gaza overnight between Friday and Saturday. Hospitals across Gaza reported that more than 140 people were killed Friday alone, according to the Health Ministry in the territory, which added that some casualties were still believed to be trapped under the rubble of airstrikes.

But there were no signs by Saturday of any new wide-scale ground invasion, despite weeks of threats by Israeli leaders. Israeli and Hamas negotiators were still involved in indirect ceasefire talks in Qatar as mediators sought to stave off the threatened Israeli escalation.

An Israeli military official, who requested anonymity to discuss operational details, said some ground troops had begun to advance in Gaza, but declined to say when, where or how far.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to drastically expand Israel’s ground campaign in Gaza in an effort to force Hamas to surrender, lay down its weapons and free the remaining hostages. But 19 months after the war began, Israel has failed to either defeat Hamas or free all of the captives.

With the threat of a major Israeli offensive mounting, mediators including Qatar and the Trump administration were trying to cinch an agreement for a new truce in Gaza that would include exchanging the remaining hostages for Palestinians jailed by Israel.

Mahmoud Mardawi, a Hamas official, said there was a round of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas in the Qatari capital of Doha on Saturday. Israel withdrew its insistence that truce talks be based on a previous proposal from March, he said.

“We had rejected this proposal and would no longer discuss it,” Mardawi said. “The Israelis have now agreed to talks without conditions and all of the issues are up for negotiation.”

Israel Katz, the Israeli defense minister, linked Hamas’ decision to return to the talks with the announcement of the new Israeli operation in Gaza.

However, Mardawi said the indirect talks had been going on for days before the Israeli statements Saturday.

International efforts have so far failed to broker an end to the war that began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. That attack killed about 1,200 people, and the Palestinian assailants took about 250 hostages back to Gaza.

The subsequent Israeli military campaign has killed more than 53,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Hamas has long stipulated that any truce to free the hostages include an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal. Netanyahu has vowed that the war will not end without victory over Hamas, a goal he has described as more important than bringing home the captives.

In January, both sides agreed to a ceasefire that lasted for about two months, during which some hostages were released for Palestinian prisoners. Israel ended the truce in mid-March and renewed its attacks in Gaza.

The latest Israeli bombardment Saturday prompted some Palestinian civilians in the central city of Deir al Balah to flee from the eastern edge of the city heading west, both on foot and in carts.

Hani al-Dibs, a displaced Palestinian sheltering in the northern Gaza town of Jabalia, said he had spent the night amid constant airstrikes that felt “like an earthquake.” Al-Dibs had fled south from a house where he had been sheltering Friday as rumors spread of an impending Israeli ground offensive.

The United Nations has warned that Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians face a growing risk of famine after an Israeli blockade on all humanitarian aid that began in early March. For more than two months, Israel has barred food, medicine and other desperately needed supplies from entering the territory in an effort, it said, to pressure Hamas to compromise and release the hostages.

On Friday, President Donald Trump, wrapping up a four-day visit to Gulf Arab nations, said “a lot of people are starving” in Gaza and the United States wanted to help alleviate the suffering. Trump skipped Israel during his regional tour — the first major foreign trip of his second term.

Israeli forces have increasingly hemmed in Gaza residents, forcing them into smaller and smaller sections of the territory. Much of the Gaza Strip has been placed under Israeli evacuation orders or been seized by Israel for military zones.

Hamas is refusing to release the remaining 58 hostages unless Israel agrees to a permanent end to the war and a withdrawal of its forces from Gaza. About 20 of the captives are believed to still be alive, while Israeli authorities say the rest are presumed dead.

Israel has killed many Hamas leaders, but the group has recruited new fighters who have continued the bitter war of attrition.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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