According to fresh reporting in Haaretz, Israel is preparing tens of thousands of orders calling more reserve soldiers to active duty, amid an expected expansion of ground operations in the Gaza Strip.
But more reservists are increasingly needed as Israel’s military once again becomes more engaged in places like Syria, Lebanon, the Golan Heights, and security crackdowns in the West Bank.
The Haaretz report suggests that a surge of additional soldiers will free up more forces to focus efforts on defeating Hamas in Gaza.
One of the areas of expected new operations is the town of Muwasi on the Gaza coast. Israel is claiming that it has become a safe haven for Hamas, and that militants are hiding in what has become a sprawling tent city of the internally displaced, and so has to be cleared of all Palestinians.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has meanwhile unleashed fresh controversy related to these expanded operations. He essentially admitted that the remaining hostages are not the country’s top priority, but the ultimate defeat of Hamas is.
“We have many objectives, many goals in this war. We want to bring back all of our hostages,” Netanyahu said. “That is a very important goal. In war, there is a supreme objective. And that supreme objective is victory over our enemies. And that is what we will achieve,” he added. He had issued the words at an Independence Day event in Jerusalem on Thursday.
