Israel vows to destroy Gaza City if Hamas doesn't disarm, free hostages

JERUSALEM: Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed on Friday (Aug 22) to destroy Gaza City if Hamas did not agree to disarm, release all remaining hostages in the territory and end the war 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 during previous Israeli operations.

The statement came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late on Thursday that he had ordered immediate negotiations aimed at freeing all the remaining hostages in Gaza. 

Netanyahu added that the push to release the hostages would accompany the operation to take control of Gaza City and destroy the Hamas stronghold. 

Later on Friday, the Rome-based Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative was set to release its latest figures regarding hunger in Gaza.

Ahead of the report's release, US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee preemptively attacked its findings.

"You know who IS starving? The hostages kidnapped and tortured by uncivilised Hamas savages," he wrote on X.

"HAND IN HAND"

Earlier this week, the defence ministry authorised the call-up of roughly 60,000 reservists to help seize Gaza City. 

"These two matters - defeating Hamas and releasing all our hostages - go hand in hand," Netanyahu said in a video statement, without providing details about what the next stage of talks would entail.

The United Nations humanitarian agency has warned that the Israeli plan to expand military operations in Gaza City would have "a horrific humanitarian impact" on an already exhausted population.

Mediators have been waiting for days for an official Israeli response to their latest ceasefire proposal, which Hamas accepted earlier this week.

Palestinian sources have said the new deal involves staggered hostage releases, while Israel has insisted that any deal see all the captives freed at once.

Israel's plans to expand the fighting and seize Gaza City have sparked an international outcry as well as domestic opposition. 

Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Of the 251 hostages seized during the attack, 49 are still in Gaza, including 27 that the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's offensive has killed more than 62,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the UN considers reliable.