Israeli Defense Chief Warns Gaza City Could Face Rafah Fate Unless Hamas Disarms, Frees Hostages

Israel has called up 60,000 reservists and extended service for 20,000 more, as the Gaza offensive enters a new phase.

Palestinians look at aid packages that are airdropped over Gaza, in Gaza City, on Aug. 8, 2025. Mahmoud Issa/Reuters

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Friday that Gaza City could face destruction similar to Rafah and Beit Hanoun if the terrorist group Hamas does not disarm and release hostages held since October 2023.

Katz said the government had approved Israel Defense Forces (IDF) plans to defeat Hamas in Gaza, involving “intense fire, evacuation of residents, and manoeuvring.”

“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. If they do not agree—Gaza, the capital of Hamas, will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun. Exactly as I promised—so it shall be,” Katz said in a post on X.

Gaza City, in the north of the enclave, is its largest urban center with an estimated pre-war population of 823,407, according to World Population Review, although that figure does not account for fluctuations during the war.

The comments follow the approval by Israel’s security cabinet earlier this month of plans to take control of Gaza City, despite international criticism.

Israel has set out principles for ending the war, including Hamas’s disarmament, the release of hostages, continued Israeli security control in Gaza, and the establishment of a civilian administration unaffiliated with either Hamas or the Palestinian Authority.

The UK, Australia, and Turkey have condemned plans to expand Israel’s military operations in Gaza, saying it wouldn’t help secure the release of hostages and would worsen the humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

The United Nations on Thursday called for an immediate cease-fire and unconditional release of hostages, while U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres urged Israel to reverse plans to expand settlements in the West Bank, which Israel calls Judea and Samaria.

In a statement on Friday, Guterres described the situation in Gaza as a “man-made disaster, a moral indictment and a failure of humanity itself.” He called for an immediate cease-fire and the release of all hostages, as well as full, unfettered humanitarian access.

His comments came after the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a U.N.-backed body, said on Friday that nearly 514,000 people in Gaza are experiencing famine, a claim Israel has rejected.

Declaration of Famine

Famine is declared when at least 20 percent of households face extreme food shortages, one in three children is acutely malnourished, and two out of every 10,000 people die daily from starvation, malnutrition, or related disease.

According to the IPC, about 280,000 people in the Gaza governorate, including Gaza City, are already in famine conditions. It projected that famine would spread to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by late September, raising the total affected to more than 640,000 people.

The figures presented in the IPC report are based on sources that are not publicly available and could not be independently verified by The Epoch Times.

The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which is an official Israeli government unit tasked with the coordination and facilitation of humanitarian initiatives in the West Bank and Gaza, called the IPC assessment “partial and unreliable,” saying it relied on sources linked to Hamas and ignored recent humanitarian efforts.

Israel’s foreign ministry said the IPC fabricated findings and changed its own famine thresholds.

The ministry added that more than 100,000 aid trucks have entered Gaza since the war began and that food prices in local markets have dropped in recent weeks, contradicting claims of starvation.

Cease-Fire Terms

An Israeli settlement plan announced last week would cut off the West Bank from East Jerusalem. It received final approval from a Defense Ministry planning commission on Aug. 20.

Arab mediators and Hamas said earlier this week that the group had agreed to cease-fire terms, though similar announcements in the past failed to produce lasting truces.

Qatar confirmed the proposal and said it was awaiting an Israeli response. The draft deal would last 60 days, include prisoner-hostage exchanges, repositioning of Israeli forces, and expanded humanitarian aid, according to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel would resume negotiations for the hostages’ release, but only on terms acceptable to Israel.

“In parallel, I have instructed to begin immediate negotiations for the release of all our hostages and the end of the war, on conditions that are acceptable for Israel,” he said in a statement. “Those two things, the defeat of Hamas and the release of all our hostages, go hand in hand.”

The war in Gaza has raged since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and capturing 251 hostages.

Operation Gideon’s Chariots

The IDF said on Wednesday it had called up about 60,000 reservists ahead of the next phase of its Gaza campaign, while extending service for another 20,000.

The mobilization is part of Operation Gideon’s Chariots, with its next phase focused on enhancing the strikes against Hamas in Gaza City.

Last week, IDF Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir said the operation has shaped the reality in Gaza, dealt Hamas a decisive blow, and strengthened the security of the communities in the south.

“We will continue to operate and create the conditions for the release of our hostages—we will make every decision with responsibility and great seriousness,” he said.

The timing of the next stage of the operation remains unclear.

According to Israel’s military spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, Israel is also working to establish a humanitarian effort led by COGAT.

He said on Wednesday that new aid distribution centers were being set up to reduce dependence on Hamas and that civilians would be warned to evacuate before attacks.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry has rejected any requests to transfer medical resources to the south of the Gaza Strip. In a statement on Telegram on Thursday, it said the move would deprive more than 1 million people of access to care.

It said that more than 62,000 people have been killed since the start of the war. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in these casualty figures, and The Epoch Times cannot verify the accuracy of that figure.