Israeli Defense Minister Threatens to Destroy Gaza City

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Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned 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 authorize the military to take Gaza City, Israel Katz warned that the enclave's largest city could "turn into Rafah and Beit Hanoun," areas reduced to rubble at the start of the war.

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

אישרנו אתמול את תוכניות צה"ל להכרעת החמאס בעזה – באש עצימה, בפינוי תושבים ובתמרון.בקרוב ייפתחו שערי הגיהנום על ראשם של מרצחי ואנסי החמאס בעזה – עד שיסכימו לתנאי ישראל לסיום המלחמה ובראשם שחרור כל החטופים והתפרקות מנשקם.

אם לא יסכימו – עזה בירת החמאס תהפוך לרפיח ובית חאנון. בדיוק…

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) August 22, 2025

The minister also reaffirmed Israel's ceasefire demands: the release of all hostages and the complete disarmament of Hamas .

Hamas said it would release the hostages in exchange for an end to the war, but rejected disarmament without the creation of a Palestinian state.