WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
A large number of Palestinians are fleeing Gaza City after the Israeli army launched the first phase of a planned ground offensive, officials said.
Israeli troops have established a foothold on the outskirts of the city - home to more than a million Palestinians - after days of intense bombardment and artillery fire, the BBC reports.
This prompted UN Secretary-General António Guterres to renew calls for an immediate ceasefire "to avoid the death and destruction" that the attack would "inevitably cause".
Israel is pressing ahead with its plan to capture all of Gaza City despite international criticism.
An army spokesman said troops were already operating in the Zeitoun and Jabalia areas to lay the groundwork for the offensive, which Defense Minister Israel Katz approved on August 19 and will be proposed to the security cabinet later this week.
Some 60,000 reservists have been called up for early September to free up active-duty personnel for the operation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was "shortening the timeline" for capturing what he described as the "last strongholds of terror" in Gaza.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City are expected to be ordered to evacuate and take shelter in southern Gaza as Israel prepares its takeover plan.
Many of Israel's allies have condemned its plan, with French President Emmanuel Macron warning on August 20 that it "can only lead to disaster for both peoples and risks plunging the entire region into a cycle of permanent war."
