The city of Gaza will be destroyed if Hamas does not accept peace on the conditions dictated by Israel, threatened the Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz on Friday.
“Soon, the doors of hell will open on the murderers and rapists from Hamas to Gaza, until they accept the conditions laid down by Israel to end the war, mainly the release of all hostages and disarmament” of the Palestinian Islamist movement, writes the Minister on his account X.
“If they do not accept, Gaza, the capital of Hamas, will become Rafah or Beit Hanoun,” he added, referring to two cities of the Gaza Strip largely shaved by Israel in the war which has opposed Hamas for almost two years.
Thursday evening, Netanyahu announced that he had ordered “immediate negotiations” with a view to “the liberation of all hostages (still detained in Gaza) and put an end to the war in acceptable conditions for Israel”.
Without explicitly quoting it, he responded to the last proposal of the mediators-Egypt, Qatar and the United States-for a cease-fire in the Palestinian territory, plagued by a catastrophic humanitarian situation.
While the UN and many humanitarian aid NGOs warn against a risk of imminent famine in the Gaza Strip, the publication of a new international report on hunger in the besieged Palestinian territory is expected on Friday.