TEL AVIV, September 16. /TASS/. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ahead of his testimony in a corruption trial, confirmed the launch of a large-scale offensive on Gaza City aimed at defeating the Hamas movement, Ynet reported.

"We have launched an intensive operation in Gaza," Netanyahu said. He noted his heavy schedule under the current circumstances and asked that routine court hearings involving him be postponed.

"Today, on a day when very important things are happening, I will be busy from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.," Netanyahu said.

The Israeli attorney general charged Netanyahu in 2019 with bribery, fraud and abuse of public trust in three cases. The prime minister has repeatedly denied all the charges. The indictments were transferred to the Jerusalem District Court in 2020.

Netanyahu began testifying in court in December 2024, but since then the hearings have been repeatedly interrupted, canceled or postponed for various reasons. Last time the prime minister prematurely interrupted his testimony in mid-July, citing urgent security matters as the situation in Syria escalated. The hearing was supposed to resume in a week, but Netanyahu did not appear, citing indisposition from food poisoning, after which the court went on a summer vacation and postponed the testimony to September.

The offensive on Gaza City

Israel launched a planned "ground offensive" on Gaza City to establish full control over it. As noted by the Axios portal, the administration of US President Donald Trump is not going to obstruct Israel and will allow it to make its own decisions regarding the conflict. The portal's sources said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Netanyahu that Washington supports the ground operation, but expects it to be executed quickly and completed as soon as possible.

Earlier, Israel launched a large-scale offensive operation in the Palestinian enclave with the aim of completely defeating the Hamas radicals there. The army's offensive plans were approved by Netanyahu in late August.