Israel said Wednesday it would call up 60,000 reservists and extend the service of others for a planned offensive in Gaza City and other heavily populated areas, ratcheting up pressure on Hamas as ceasefire talks show signs of progress.
The expansion of Israeli operations is likely to bring even more death and destruction to Gaza, around 75% of which is already largely destroyed and controlled by Israel. A wider offensive would also force more people to flee and further disrupt the delivery of humanitarian aid as experts say the territory is at imminent risk of famine.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime minister's office in Jerusalem, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP)
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip attend a rally demanding their release from Hamas captivity and calling for an end to the war, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Humanitarian aid is airdropped to Palestinians over Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The sun sets behind buildings that were destroyed during the Israeli ground and air operations stand in the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israel's plans have also sparked internal controversy, with families of the remaining hostages fearing another military escalation could doom their loved ones, while former senior security officials say there is little to be gained militarily.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis joined mass protests over the weekend.
The decision to once again summon reservists away from their families and businesses, with many having served earlier terms over 22 months of grinding war, could further escalate those tensions.
An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said Wednesday that troops would gradually move into Gaza City, including parts where they have not previously operated and where the official said Hamas still has military and governing capabilities.
The official, who declined to offer a precise timetable for the operation, said the process of mobilizing reserves would unfold over several weeks.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the operations will eventually expand to built-up refugee camps in central Gaza dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation, as well as Muwasi, a sprawling displacement camp along the coast.
Those areas, along with the central city of Deir al-Balah, are the only parts of Gaza that have not been almost completely destroyed in previous Israeli operations. They are also areas where Hamas may be holding hostages in tunnels or other secret locations.
Netanyahu has said Israel will allow civilians to flee to “designated safe zones” where “they will be given ample food, water and medical care, as we have done before.” He did not say where they would go.
Israel designated Muwasi as a humanitarian zone earlier in the war. The barren stretch of sandy coastline was soon filled with tents housing hundreds of thousands of people with little in the way of food, running water, toilets or trash collection. Israel has regularly carried out airstrikes against what it said were militants hiding out there, often killing women and children.
Last month, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz reportedly floated the idea of transferring Gaza's population to a so-called “humanitarian city” that the military would build on the ruins of the southernmost city of Rafah — now a largely uninhabited Israeli military zone — on the border with Egypt.
Netanyahu has vowed to eventually relocate much of Gaza's population to other countries through what he refers to as voluntary emigration. The Palestinians and much of the international community see it as forcible expulsion because Israel's offensive has made much of Gaza uninhabitable.
They fear that concentrating people in the south would be a step toward implementing such plans.
Israel could delay or cancel the planned offensive if there is a breakthrough in long-running ceasefire talks that stalled last month but now seem to have been revived.
Hamas said this week it has accepted a new proposal from Arab mediators that is almost identical to a previous one advanced by the United States and accepted by Israel. Neither Israel nor the United States have yet responded to the offer.
Netanyahu has said he will end the war if Hamas gives up power, lays down its arms and releases the remaining 50 hostages — around 20 of whom are believed by Israel to be alive.
Israel would still maintain open-ended security control over Gaza while delegating civilian administration to friendly Arab forces, Netanyahu has said, without identifying them. None are known to have volunteered, aside from an Israeli-backed armed group known for looting aid.
Hamas has said, in line with international demands, that it would release the remaining hostages in return for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The militant group says it is willing to hand over power to other Palestinians but will not give up its weapons as long as Israel occupies lands the Palestinians want for a future state. Israel believes any arrangement that leaves Hamas intact and armed would allow it to eventually mount another Oct. 7-style attack.
The hostages are Hamas' only remaining bargaining chip, and it is unlikely to give them up if it believes that Israel will then resume the war and attempt to eradicate the group.
Israel ended a previous ceasefire in March that had facilitated the release of 25 hostages and the remains of eight others. Since then, it has imposed a 2 1/2 month blockade that pushed the territory toward famine, launched daily airstrikes across Gaza, expanded its buffer zone and ordered mass evacuations.
Hamas has only released one hostage during that time, as a gesture to the United States.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 others in the 2023 attack. More than half of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel's offensive has killed around 61,500 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and run by medical professionals, does not say how many of those killed were civilians or combatants, but it says women and children make up around half of the fatalities. The agency's numbers are considered a reliable estimate by the U.N. and independent experts. Israel disputes them but has not offered its own figures.
Associated Press Writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime minister's office in Jerusalem, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP)
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip attend a rally demanding their release from Hamas captivity and calling for an end to the war, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Humanitarian aid is airdropped to Palestinians over Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The sun sets behind buildings that were destroyed during the Israeli ground and air operations stand in the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday even as he has questioned her credibility to take over her country after the U.S. ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro.
The Nobel Institute has said Machado could not give her prize to Trump, an honor that he has coveted. Even if it the gesture proves to be purely symbolic, it was extraordinary given that Trump has effectively sidelined Machado, who has long been the face of resistance in Venezuela. He has signaled his willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who had been Maduro’s second in command.
“I presented the president of the United States the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize," Machado told reporters after leaving the White House and heading to Capitol Hill. She said she had done so "as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”
Trump has raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in Venezuela, giving no timetable on when elections might be held. Machado indicated that he had provided few specifics on that front during their discussion.
She did not provide more information on what was said, and the White House did not say if Trump accepted the medal or offer other details of its own.
After a closed-door meeting with Trump, Machado greeted dozens of cheering supporters waiting for her near the White House gates, stopping to hug many.
“We can count on President Trump,” she told them without elaborating, prompting some to briefly chant, “Thank you, Trump.”
Before her visit to Washington, Machado had not been seen in public since she traveled last month to Norway, where her daughter received the peace prize on her behalf. She had spent 11 months in hiding in Venezuela before she appeared in Norway after the ceremony.
The jubilant scene after her meeting with Trump stood in contrast to political realities in Venezuela. Rodríguez remains in charge of day-to-day government operations, along with others in Maduro’s inner circle. In her first state of the union speech Thursday, the interim president promoted the resumption of diplomatic ties between the historic adversaries and advocated for opening the state-run oil industry to more foreign investment after Trump pledged to seize control of Venezuelan crude sales.
Trump has said it would be difficult for Machado to lead because she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Her party is widely believed to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Machado “a remarkable and brave voice” but also said the meeting didn’t mean Trump’s opinion of her changed, calling it “a realistic assessment.”
Leavitt told reporters that Trump supported new Venezuelan elections “when the time is right” but did not say when he thought that might be.
Leavitt said Machado had sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. She spent about two and a half hours at the White House.
“I don’t think he needs to hear anything from Ms. Machado," the press secretary said while the meeting was still going on, other than to have a ”frank and positive discussion about what’s taking place in Venezuela.”
After leaving the White House, Machado went on to a closed-door meeting with a bipartisan group of senators.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Machado told them that “if there’s not some progress, real progress towards a transition in power, and/or elections in the next several months, we should all be worried.”
“She reminded us that Delcy Rodríguez is, in many ways, worse than Maduro,” he added.
Asked if Machado had heard any commitment from the White House on holding elections in Venezuela, Murphy said, “No, I don’t think she got any commitment from them."
Sen. Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican, was exultant following the meeting, saying Machado "delivered a message that loud and clear: What President Trump did was the most important, significant event in Latin America. That getting rid of Maduro was absolutely essential.”
Machado's Washington stop coincided with U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea seizing another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says had ties to Venezuela. It is part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil after U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife less than two weeks ago at a heavily guarded compound in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.
Leavitt said Venezuela's interim authorities have been fully cooperating with the Trump administration and noted that Rodríguez's government said it planned to release more prisoners detained under Maduro. Among those released were five Americans this week.
Trump said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.
Just hours after Maduro's capture, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader.” Machado had steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning the peace prize, and had sought to cultivate relationships with him and key administration voices like Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate, Machado began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.
A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush, whom Chávez considered an adversary.
Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown.
Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela. Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Stephen Groves, Michelle L. Price and Matthew Lee in Washington, and Megan Janetsky in Mexico City contributed to this report.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is welcomed at the Capitol before a meeting with senators, from left, Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., as the Nobel Peace Prize recipient visits American leaders two weeks after President Donald Trump toppled Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in a stunning military raid, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, center, leaves the Capitol, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, center, is welcomed by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., left, Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., far left, and Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., right, as the Nobel Peace Prize recipient visits American leaders at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gestures to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado smiles on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)
