Gazans Fear Looming Israeli Operation

When Israel announced its plan to invade Gaza City in early August, Hassan Shehada scrambled to find an apartment in towns south of the city.

For a week, Mr. Shehada, a 62-year-old textile factory owner, made calls to friends and colleagues in Deir al-Balah, Nuseirat and al-Zawayda, asking for help in securing a place for him and his family. Since the start of the war, he had been displaced six times, and each time he had managed to find an apartment to house his family. This time, however, his efforts failed.

“We’ve had enough, we’re not going anywhere,” Mr. Shehada said. “We’re so tired and we can’t take it anymore.”

The Israeli military said on Wednesday that it is moving ahead with its preparations to invade Gaza City, calling up an additional 60,000 reservists and announcing plans to extend the duty of 20,000 others. Troops will conduct a “gradual, precise and targeted” operation in and around the city, said an Israeli military official said, requesting anonymity to comply with military protocol.

The offensive, the official said, is intended to prevent Hamas fighters from regrouping and planning future attacks, and it would extend into parts of Gaza City that Israeli soldiers have not previously attacked or held during the war. In early phases of the war, Israeli soldiers have carried out operations in Gaza City, including at Al-Shifa Hospital, before withdrawing.

Israel’s plan to invade Gaza City, the most populous city in northern Gaza, has forced hundreds of thousands of residents like Mr. Shehada to consider uprooting themselves to the central and southern parts of the territory, away from the planned operation.