Call-up letters have gone out to 60,000 reservists to bolster an operation which is expected to last until next year.

An Israeli military official says the country’s top generals have approved plans to begin a new phase of operations in some of Gaza’s most densely populated areas.

Israel’s military announced the first steps of an operation to take over Gaza City on Wednesday and called up tens of thousands of reservists while the government considered a new ceasefire proposal to pause nearly two years of war.