IDF reserve soldiers in staging areas around the Gaza Strip in November 2012. Photo: Israel Defense Forces.

JNS.org – The Israeli government has authorized the call-up of 8,000 additional reservists to assist in military operations near Gaza.

The added troops would raise the total number of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers summoned for the current conflict to 56,000, The Jerusalem Post reported. The IDF initially called up 40,000 reservists last week to replace conscripted soldiers serving in the West Bank, who would then move to the Gaza border.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not given any indication that the buildup of troops along Gaza comes in preparation for a ground operation.

“Israel will continue to act thus until peace and quiet prevail in the country; this is our right,” Netanyahu said in a joint news conference with Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini on Wednesday. “We must reach a situation in which Gaza is disarmed from weapons and missiles.”