Israel has called up 60,000 reservists and extended service for 20,000 more, as the Gaza offensive enters a new phase.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Friday that Gaza City could face destruction similar to Rafah and Beit Hanoun if the terrorist group Hamas does not disarm and release hostages held since October 2023.
Katz said the government had approved Israel Defense Forces (IDF) plans to defeat Hamas in Gaza, involving “intense fire, evacuation of residents, and manoeuvring.”
“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. If they do not agree—Gaza, the capital of Hamas, will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun. Exactly as I promised—so it shall be,” Katz said in a post on X.
Gaza City, in the north of the enclave, is its largest urban center with an estimated pre-war population of 823,407, according to World Population Review, although that figure does not account for fluctuations during the war.
The comments follow the approval by Israel’s security cabinet earlier this month of plans to take control of Gaza City, despite international criticism.
Israel has set out principles for ending the war, including Hamas’s disarmament, the release of hostages, continued Israeli security control in Gaza, and the establishment of a civilian administration unaffiliated with either Hamas or the Palestinian Authority.
The UK, Australia, and Turkey have condemned plans to expand Israel’s military operations in Gaza, saying it wouldn’t help secure the release of hostages and would worsen the humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
The United Nations on Thursday called for an immediate cease-fire and unconditional release of hostages, while U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres urged Israel to reverse plans to expand settlements in the West Bank, which Israel calls Judea and Samaria.
In a statement on Friday, Guterres described the situation in Gaza as a “man-made disaster, a moral indictment and a failure of humanity itself.” He called for an immediate cease-fire and the release of all hostages, as well as full, unfettered humanitarian access.
His comments came after the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a U.N.-backed body, said on Friday that nearly 514,000 people in Gaza are experiencing famine, a claim Israel has rejected.
