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LAST UPDATE | 22 Aug 2025
ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER Israel Katz vowed to destroy Gaza City if Hamas did not agree to disarm, release all remaining hostages in the territory and end the conflict on Israel’s terms.
“Soon, the gates of hell will open upon the heads of Hamas’s murderers and rapists in Gaza – until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and their disarmament,” the minister posted on social media.
“If they do not agree, Gaza, the capital of Hamas, will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun,” he added, referring to two cities in Gaza largely razed by Israel since October 2023.
The statement came after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last night that he will give final approval for a takeover of Gaza City while also restarting negotiations with Hamas aimed at returning all of Israel’s remaining hostages.
The wide-scale operation in Gaza City could start within days after the Israeli Prime Minister grants final approval at a meeting with senior security officials.
Hamas today called for an immediate end to the war and the lifting of the Israeli siege on the territory after the UN declared a famine in parts of Gaza.
In a statement published online, the group called for “immediate action by the UN and the security council to stop the war and lift the siege”.
It also called for crossings to be opened “without restrictions to allow the urgent and continuous entry of food, medicine, water and fuel”.
The group also accused Israel of using starvation as a “tool of war”.
“We in the Hamas movement emphasise the importance of this UN declaration, even though it comes far too late — after long months of warnings and suffering endured by our people under systematic siege and starvation,” the group said.
“The international community and all its institutions bear an urgent legal and moral responsibility to stop the crimes against humanity and save more than two million people facing genocide, starvation and systematic destruction of all aspects of life.”
Hamas had said earlier this week that it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal from Arab mediators which, if accepted by Israel, could forestall the offensive.
But the widening of the 22-month military offensive against Hamas appears to be proceeding despite protests in Israel and the Palestinian enclave.
The Israeli military has been calling medical officials and international organisations in the northern Gaza Strip to encourage them to evacuate to the south ahead of the expanded operation.
The military plans to call up 60,000 reservists and extend the service of 20,000 more.
Israeli strikes killed at least 36 Palestinians across Gaza yesterday, according to local hospitals.
A renewed offensive could bring even more casualties and displacement to the territory, where the war has already killed tens of thousands and where experts have warned of imminent famine.
During a visit to the military’s Gaza command in southern Israel, Netanyahu said he would approve the army’s plans to retake Gaza City, and had instructed officials “to begin immediate negotiations on the release of all our hostages and an end to the war on terms acceptable to Israel”.
“These two things — defeating Hamas and releasing all our hostages — go hand in hand,” he said.
It appeared to mark Israel’s first public response to the latest ceasefire proposal drawn up by Egypt and Qatar, which Egyptian and Hamas officials say is almost identical to an earlier one that Israel accepted before the talks stalled last month.
The proposal would include the release of some of the hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, a pullback of Israeli forces and negotiations over a more lasting ceasefire.
Israeli troops, meanwhile, have already begun limited operations in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood and the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp, where they have carried out several previous major operations over the course of the war, only to see militants later regroup.
The military says it plans to operate in areas where ground troops have not yet entered and where it says Hamas still has military and governing capabilities.
There has been little sign of Palestinians fleeing en masse, as they did when Israel carried out an earlier offensive in Gaza City in the opening weeks of the war.
The military says it controls around 75% of Gaza and residents say nowhere in the territory feels safe.
Hundreds gathered in Gaza City on Thursday for a rare protest against the war and Israel’s plans to support the mass relocation of Palestinians to other countries.
Unlike in previous protests, there were no expressions of opposition to Hamas.
In Israel, families of some of the 50 hostages still being held in Gaza gathered in Tel Aviv to condemn the expanded operation. Israel believes around 20 hostages are still alive.
“Forty-two hostages were kidnapped alive and murdered in captivity due to military pressure and delay in signing a deal,” said Dalia Cusnir, whose brother-in-law Eitan Horn is still being held captive. Horn’s brother Iair was released during a ceasefire earlier this year.
“Enough to sacrifice the hostages. Enough to sacrifice the soldiers, both regular and reservists. Enough to sacrifice the evacuees. Enough to sacrifice the younger generation in the country,” said Bar Goddard, daughter of Meni Goddard, whose body is being held by Hamas.
Additional reporting from AFP
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