2LT International News

JERUSALEM, Israel: Israel’s defense minister warned on August 22 that Gaza City faces destruction unless Hamas accepts Israel’s conditions, as the military prepares to launch a major new offensive in the enclave’s largest urban center.

A day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would authorize the army to seize Gaza City, Defense Minister Israel Katz declared that the city could “turn into Rafah and Beit Hanoun,” both heavily bombed and reduced to ruins earlier in the conflict. Writing on X (formerly Twitter), Katz vowed that “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.”

Israel’s terms remain unchanged: the release of all hostages and Hamas’ complete disarmament. Hamas has rejected surrendering weapons without the establishment of a Palestinian state, though it has signaled willingness to release captives in exchange for a permanent ceasefire.

Israeli forces have already intensified operations in the Zeitoun neighborhood and Jabaliya refugee camp, areas that have seen repeated incursions but where Hamas fighters have consistently reemerged. Military officials say the new push will target zones that have yet to see ground troops and where Hamas is believed to retain both military strength and administrative control.

Despite the warnings, there has been a slight mass displacement from Gaza City so far. Residents say the territory’s 2.3 million people feel unsafe everywhere, while Israel claims to control about three-quarters of Gaza. On August 21, the army began calling local health workers and international agencies in northern Gaza, urging them to evacuate south in anticipation of the expanded assault. It also announced plans to call up 60,000 reservists and extend the service of 20,000 more.

Airstrikes have continued across the strip, adding to a death toll that has already soared past 62,000 since the war began. Aid groups warn of lwidening famine as bombardment and blockades strain food and medical supplies.

in Jerusalem. Hamas, meanwhile, has said that it had accepted a ceasefire proposal from Arab mediators, raising faint hopes of averting a new escalation, however Mr Netanyahu, as late as Tuesday, was saying a new deal must now be agreed.

Many Israelis fear that any full-scale assault on Gaza City could seal the fate of the roughly 20 hostages still alive from the October 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war.