Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Israel’s preparation to enter Gaza City, NATO’s discussions about security guarantees for Ukraine, and M23 attacks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Preparing for a New Offensive
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will call up around 60,000 reservists to supplement its forces as it prepares for an expanded military operation into Gaza City. The city, located in the north of Gaza, is still one of the enclave’s most densely populated areas despite the continued danger of Israeli attacks and a growing humanitarian crisis. The service of 20,000 additional reservists already on active duty will also be extended.
“We will be moving into a new phase of combat, a gradual, precise, and targeted operation in and around Gaza City,” a military official said during a briefing with reporters, according to Newsweek.
The call-up of reservists, the largest in months, is part of a plan approved by Defense Minister Israel Katz that aims to prevent Hamas from initiating future attacks or regrouping from its stronghold in northern Gaza.
“I instruct you to use all tools and all power to strike the enemy until it is subdued, and to protect I.D.F. soldiers,” Katz told Israeli troops on Wednesday, according to a statement received by the New York Times. The plan is expected to receive final approval from the military’s chief of staff in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the initial phase of the operation has begun, with Israel’s military spokesperson telling reporters on Wednesday that “already now IDF forces are holding the outskirts of Gaza City.” The newly called-up reservists will not report for duty until September.
Israel is moving ahead with plans even as it faces domestic and international criticism from its allies and risks displacing more Palestinians in Gaza. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also facing pressure from far-right members of his coalition to continue the war and annex territory.
One such member is Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said Wednesday that Israel had given final approval for the controversial E1 settlement development that would bisect the West Bank. The development essentially quashes optimism for a viable two-state solution or a future Palestinian state.
“The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not with slogans but with actions,” Smotrich said on Wednesday. “Every settlement, every neighborhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea.”
However, the impending move into Gaza City could be prevented under the Hamas-approved 60-day cease-fire plan put forth earlier this week. The proposal would see Israel pull back its forces to a buffer zone that extends 800 meters (or 875 yards) into Gaza, allow in 600 trucks of humanitarian aid per day, and free around 1,700 imprisoned Palestinians. In exchange, Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 deceased hostages. Israel has said that there are still 50 hostages in Gaza, around 20 of whom are believed to still be alive. Israel is expected to respond to the cease-fire proposal by Friday.
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What We’re Following
Candid discussion. NATO defense chiefs held a discussion on Wednesday about what security guarantees they could offer Ukraine as part of a final deal to end the country’s more than three-year full-scale war with Russia. The gathering followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and European leaders, none of which resulted in a clear pathway to peace.
The meeting of 32 defense chiefs facilitated “great, candid discussion,” according to a post on X written by the chair of NATO’s Military Committee, Italian Adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone. He also reaffirmed the group’s strong support for Ukraine.
Ukraine has asked for Western-backed military assurances to prevent any reinvasion from Russia down the line. Yet any such security guarantees would likely face stiff pushback from Russia, which has repeatedly said that having NATO countries’ troops in Ukraine would be unacceptable. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday that attempts to resolve Ukrainian security without Russian involvement would not lead to movement toward a peace agreement.
“We cannot agree with the fact that now it is proposed to resolve questions of security, collective security, without the Russian Federation. This will not work,” Lavrov said at a news conference. He added that any talks not including Moscow are a “road to nowhere.”
Undermined peace. Rwanda-backed M23 rebels killed scores of civilians in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in mid-July, according to a new report released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch. The report found that the killings took place only a few weeks after the signing of a U.S.-brokered preliminary peace deal between Rwanda and Congo. The investigation included witness accounts from medical staff, United Nations personnel, and attack survivors.
M23 has denied involvement in the killings, and even with overwhelming evidence from the U.N., Rwanda has continued to deny backing M23.
The White House has hailed the peace deal, but these new details undermine Trump’s self-praise for ending the roughly 30-year conflict. Additionally, this report comes after M23 rebels suspended Qatari-brokered talks on Monday that were aimed at securing permanent peace and accused the Congolese government of attacking the group’s seized territories.
Dangerous return. More than 70 Afghans returning from Iran died in a bus crash in Afghanistan’s Herat province near the Iranian border on Tuesday night. The accident occurred on one of the country’s most dangerous highways when the bus collided with a truck and a motorbike. The bus was just one of the hundreds that have been carrying Afghan refugees across the border as Iran escalates expulsions and forced returns. The Herat province crossing is the main point of entry for the thousands of Afghans returning every day.
More than 1.9 million Afghan refugees have been returned from Iran and neighboring Pakistan since the start of 2025 as part of a push to remove undocumented nationals. The removals were particularly ramped up following the Israel-Iran war in June after Iran accused some refugees of spying for Israel. However, Afghanistan is not positioned to handle the massive population influx, and many returnees arrive with no jobs or places to live. The U.N. and humanitarian organizations have strongly condemned the deportations and warned that returnees face the threat of persecution and violence under Afghanistan’s Taliban government.
Odds and Ends
The annual Air Guitar World Championships kicked off on Wednesday in Oulu, Finland, with competitors from 13 countries ready to face off to see who can rock the best air guitar solo. Since 1996, the competition has encouraged participants to “make air, not war,” believing that “climate change, wars, and all bad things will disappear when all people play air guitar.” It’s also a way to build connections with other air guitar aficionados and music. “A lot of the airheads in real life actually do play instruments,” U.K. contestant Piers Burnell told the BBC, “so it’s their way of kind of letting loose, and it doesn’t matter if they play a bum note because no one can hear it.”
The post Israel Calls Up Reservists Ahead of Gaza City Offensive appeared first on Foreign Policy.
