By: Fern Sidman

Israeli armored units pressed farther into Gaza City on Saturday, with tanks reportedly advancing to the fringes of the Sabra neighborhood, according to Palestinian sources cited by Ynet News. The movement marks a significant escalation in the military campaign, coming just two days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally approved the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) plan to seize full control of the city.\

The development coincides with growing domestic and international pressure over the fate of hostages held by Hamas, leaving Israel caught between a widening military operation and fragile negotiations mediated by regional and global actors.

Netanyahu’s office confirmed Thursday that the prime minister had authorized the IDF’s operational blueprint for taking Gaza City, declaring that “the defeat of Hamas and the release of our hostages go hand in hand.”

As Ynet News reported on Saturday, Netanyahu instructed his government to prepare for potential talks on a framework that could lead to the release of captives and possibly an end to the war — but only “on terms acceptable to Israel.” Officials indicated that the military was already laying logistical groundwork for urban operations, even as diplomatic channels remained gridlocked.

Despite his endorsement of the IDF plan, Netanyahu has not yet provided a timetable for negotiations, leaving uncertainty about whether talks will move forward in Doha or Cairo, where mediators from the United States, Egypt, and Qatar have been working to keep fragile dialogue alive.

At present, the only concrete proposal under discussion is a partial agreement put forward by Egypt and Qatar. As detailed in the Ynet News report, the draft envisions Hamas releasing 10 living hostages and 18 bodies in exchange for an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners, including those serving life sentences.

The proposal would also impose a 60-day temporary ceasefire, coupled with expanded humanitarian access to Gaza under the supervision of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Netanyahu has not dismissed the idea outright but has emphasized that Israel continues to favor a comprehensive settlement that goes far beyond temporary measures. His conditions include Hamas’s full disarmament, the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, and the establishment of a non-Hamas governing authority to oversee the enclave. In return, Israel would consider releasing a broader number of Palestinian prisoners and facilitating reconstruction aid.

Such maximalist demands shine a spotlight on the wide gap between the Israeli government’s strategic objectives and Hamas’s own priorities — making a near-term breakthrough unlikely.

While diplomats weigh proposals, the military campaign has accelerated. For several days, IDF troops have operated extensively in the Zeitoun district of Gaza City. On Saturday, tanks reportedly rolled into Sabra, a neighborhood abutting Zeitoun, in what the Ynet News report described as a deeper thrust into the city’s dense urban core.

Military analysts note that such maneuvers reflect Israel’s determination to dismantle Hamas’s remaining infrastructure, including command nodes, tunnel networks, and weapons caches that remain embedded within civilian areas. The IDF has framed the Gaza City operation as critical to breaking Hamas’s chain of command, which has been steadily eroded in recent months through targeted strikes.

The hostage crisis added fresh layers of uncertainty on Friday when President Donald Trump asserted that fewer than 20 hostages remain alive in Gaza — a claim that contradicts Israeli government figures.

Israel’s hostage affairs coordinator, Gal Hirsch, moved quickly to correct the record, reassuring families that 20 hostages are confirmed alive, with grave concern for two additional captives, and 28 confirmed dead.

As reported by Ynet News, Hirsch’s intervention sought to prevent panic among hostage families, who have repeatedly accused the government of withholding information and dragging its feet in negotiations. The discrepancy between Trump’s remarks and Israel’s official numbers has nonetheless fueled speculation about the true state of intelligence regarding the captives.

Against this backdrop, families of hostages announced plans for a new wave of nationwide protests beginning Sunday, demanding that the government prioritize the return of all captives over military escalation.

Organizers, speaking to Ynet News, argued that the continuation of large-scale operations in Gaza without a parallel hostage deal risks endangering the lives of those still held by Hamas. Their demonstrations are expected to draw broad public support, tapping into the growing unease across Israeli society about the length and cost of the war.

Netanyahu’s government thus finds itself at a crossroads: pressing forward with the IDF’s urban offensive while simultaneously facing domestic uproar and international calls for restraint. The dilemma, as Ynet News has reported, lies in reconciling Israel’s strategic aim of eradicating Hamas with the urgent humanitarian imperative of freeing the hostages.

For now, the military momentum appears to be with the IDF. Yet every kilometer gained in Gaza City comes at the cost of mounting pressure at home, where families and civil society groups insist that diplomacy must take precedence.

Saturday’s advance into Sabra symbolizes Israel’s determination to seize the heart of Gaza City, a campaign Netanyahu has endorsed as essential to defeating Hamas. But it also highlights the fraught balancing act confronting the government: fighting a war of annihilation against Hamas while negotiating for the lives of civilians trapped in captivity.

As Ynet News emphasized in its coverage, the outcome of this dual-track strategy will shape not only the fate of the hostages and the trajectory of the Gaza war, but also Israel’s broader political and moral standing in an increasingly skeptical international arena.