Israel's defence minister says Gaza City could be destroyed

Deir Al-Balah, Aug 22: 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 mount a major operation 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.

“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.

The wide-scale operation in Gaza City could start within days.

Gaza City is Hamas' military and governing stronghold, atop of what Israel believes is an extensive tunnel network. It is also sheltering hundreds of thousands of civilians and still houses some of the strip's critical infrastructure and health facilities.

Hamas said earlier this week that it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal from Arab mediators, which — if accepted by Israel — could forestall the offensive.

The parties do not negotiate directly and similar announcements have been made in the past that did not lead to ceasefires.

The proposal outlines a phased deal involving hostage and prisoner exchanges and a pullback of Israeli troops, while talks continue on a longer-term cease-fire. Israeli leaders have resisted such terms since abandoning a similar agreement earlier this year amid divisions within Netanyahu's coalition and strong opposition from his right.

Many Israelis fear an assault could doom the roughly 20 hostages still alive after Hamas-led militants' October 7, 2023 attack. Aid groups and international leaders warn it would worsen Gaza's humanitarian crisis.

The logistics of evacuating civilians are expected to be daunting. Many residents say repeated displacement is pointless since nowhere in Gaza is safe, while medical groups warn Israel's calls to move patients south is unworkable, with no facilities to receive them.

But Netanyahu has argued the offensive is the surest way to free captives and crush Hamas.

“These two things — defeating Hamas and releasing all our hostages — go hand in hand,” Netanyahu said on Thursday while touring a command centre near in southern Israel.