Israel orders the mobilization of thousands of reservists

The Israeli military has issued draft orders to reservists, mobilizing tens of thousands of troops ahead of an expansion of its offensive against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza , Israeli media reported Saturday.

Several military correspondents, including one from Army Radio, stated that these reservists will be sent to replace those currently deployed and active-duty soldiers throughout the country and in the occupied West Bank , and that these could be sent to fight in the Gaza Strip.

AFP asked a military spokeswoman about this, but she neither confirmed nor denied the reports. However, people close to AFP journalists have already received their mobilization orders.

According to Israeli public television , the security cabinet will meet on Sunday to approve the expansion of the military offensive in Gaza.

After a two-month truce with Hamas in Gaza and several weeks of fruitless negotiations, Israel resumed its bombing on March 18, followed by ground operations in the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintains that military pressure is the only way to force Hamas to release the hostages it still holds.

On Saturday night, the Israeli president criticized Qatar, the emirate that, along with Egypt, is mediating a possible truce with Hamas, and urged it to "abandon its double game and double talk."

"Israel will win this legitimate war with legitimate means," Netanyahu said, hours after Hamas's armed wing released a video of a wounded Russian-Israeli hostage being held in the Gaza Strip.

In the photo, released by the Ezedin al-Qassam Brigades and whose authenticity AFP could not confirm, a man appears lying down, his head and left arm covered in brown-stained bandages.

The man, who speaks Hebrew with a Russian accent, introduces himself as "prisoner number 24" and says he was injured in an Israeli bombing.

It also refers to the fact that Israel will soon celebrate its independence anniversary , suggesting that the video was filmed before May 1.

The war between Israel and Hamas erupted after the Islamist movement's unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which left 1,218 dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

In addition, Hamas fighters took 251 people hostage that day , 58 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 who the Israeli military says were killed.

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry said Saturday that at least 2,396 people have been killed since Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza in March, bringing the total death toll since the start of the war to 52,495, mostly civilians, figures the UN considers reliable.

Meanwhile, thousands of Israelis protested Saturday outside the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv to demand action that would allow for the release of the hostages.

The government has asserted that the goal of the expanded operation is to secure the release of Hamas captives , but critics warn that it puts them in mortal danger.

The hostages' families forum said in a statement that "any escalation in the fighting will put the hostages (...) in immediate danger."