Israel’s defence minister says Gaza City could be destroyed

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz warned Gaza City could face destruction unless Hamas accepts ceasefire terms, including hostage release and disarmament. His statement followed PM Netanyahu’s authorisation for a possible military seizure of the city, escalating threats amid the ongoing conflict

Jerusalem: Israel’s defence minister warned on Friday that Gaza City could be destroyed unless Hamas accepts Israel’s terms, as the country prepares for an expanded offensive in the area.

A day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would authorise the military to seize Gaza City, Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that the enclave’s largest city could “turn into Rafah and Beit Hanoun,” areas reduced to rubble earlier in the war.

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“The gates of hell will soon open on the heads of Hamas’ murderers and rapists in Gaza — until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war,” Katz wrote in a post on X.

He restated Israel’s cease-fire demands: the release of all hostages and Hamas’ complete disarmament. Hamas has said it would release captives in exchange for ending the war, but rejects disarmament without the creation of a Palestinian State.