Israeli Defence Minister, Israel Katz, on Friday vowed that Gaza City would be destroyed if Hamas refused to disarm, release all remaining hostages, and accept Israel’s conditions to end the war.

“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,” Katz declared in a social media post.

“If they do not agree, Gaza, the capital of Hamas, will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun,” he added, referencing two Gazan cities heavily devastated in earlier Israeli operations.

The warning came hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered fresh negotiations to secure the release of hostages still held in Gaza. He stressed that the talks would run in parallel with Israel’s military push to seize Gaza City and dismantle Hamas’s stronghold.

 “These two matters, defeating Hamas and releasing all our hostages—go hand in hand,” Netanyahu said in a video statement, though without specifying what new terms were being proposed.

Earlier this week, Israel’s Defence Ministry approved the mobilisation of 60,000 reservists to support the planned offensive on Gaza City.

Mediators, including Egypt and Qatar, have been awaiting Israel’s response to a ceasefire proposal that Hamas accepted earlier this week. Palestinian sources say the deal includes staggered hostage releases, while Israel insists that all captives must be freed at once.

Israel’s threat to expand the fighting has sparked both international alarm and domestic opposition, with critics warning of the humanitarian toll.

Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel left 1,219 people dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. In retaliation, Israel’s ongoing offensive has killed more than 62,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Gaza’s health ministry figures that the United Nations considers credible.