Defense Minister Israel Katz yesterday approved the IDF’s attack plan for Gaza City, presented to him by Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and the IDF senior command team.
The operation will be called “Gideon Chariots 2”, following the previous “Gideon Chariots” operation, which led to the decisive defeat of Hamas throughout the majority of Gaza and allowed the IDF to take control of 75% of Gaza’s territory, while neutralizing Hamas operatives and destroying terrorist infrastructure both above and below ground in cleared areas.
As part of the plan, the necessary reserve orders will be issued to carry out the assault. In addition, the required humanitarian preparations were approved to accommodate residents who are expected to evacuate southward from Gaza City at the start of the attack, in order to isolate Hamas operatives until they are neutralized.
On Tuesday, the Chief of Staff briefed the Defense Minister on the need to call up an additional 60,000 reservists to support the operation. This would bring the total number of reservists mobilized to 130,000, including the 70,000 already on duty. The new call-up orders are expected to be issued for early September. However, military officials are concerned that turnout may be lower than in previous rounds due to signs of fatigue among reservists.
Once the operation begins, military planners believe control over Gaza could be established within two months. However, they anticipate that reservists will need to remain in the area longer to complete clearance operations targeting remaining pockets of Hamas forces and hidden weapons stockpiles.